Skyland, Volume 1: The light comes when we unite
by BzzyBee
Summary: It's 2253, blocs have joined the rebellion in order to fight the Sphere. But, just like the rebellion has changed: so has the Sphere. More tight rules, more strict leaders and even more powerful brigadiers. While friendships and love arises, so does fear and danger. Set after Tome 1. Will Lena & Cheng be freed from the Sphere? Will Mahad discover who Iziel really is?
1. Prologue

Skyland, Volume 1: The light comes when we unite

Authors note:

First of all, thank you so much for even considering to read my story. Over the past few years I've been doing some research on how I can execute this story in the best way that's possible. I'll keep the author notes as limited as possible but unfortunately, sometimes I might feel the need to explain something or to show you guys a sketch. For the latter you can expect ship sketches in case I introduce a new ship, which I can guarantee you will happen, or perhaps even a new character. If anything is unclear or I made a spelling mistake, please feel free to correct me. I graduated with honour at C2 Cambridge, but this doesn't mean that I don't make any mistakes. Sometimes I get so caught up in the story that minor errors slip through.

Before continuing to read, I highly recommend you guys to read "Skyland, Tome 1: L'éclat des ténèbres". It's in French but two kind people translated it and posted it in the "Skylanders" group on Deviantart. "L'éclat des ténèbres" is one of the two comics that were released. The other one was "L'archipel des tempêtes" which unfortunately isn't for sale anywhere online. Therefore I can't include it in my story in any way. Since some people might not have read the first comic, I will include the main story line in the prologue since this story continues based on the comic.

Happy reading!

**Prologue**

They've had many crazy plans in the past: the mogura escape; the flying Parisian underground; freeing their mother from the most secured prison; and many other things that made you want to quit everything right this instant to secure your own life. But this plan topped it all.

"Are you sure we're safe?"

Lena hissed, "keep quiet" she mouthed at Cheng. He nodded in return, his fear growing. After a minute, that somehow seemed to last an eternity, Lena's shoulders became less tense. Her body relaxing, her frown disappearing.

"OK, he's gone. Phew." She wiped the sweat of her face with the palm of her hand and gave Cheng a reassuring look.

He repeated his question, this time adding "sooner or later they'll find out I'm not-" Lena interrupted him once more with a quick hiss.

"Don't say anything, for all you know they're listening to us right now." She moved closer to him and threw her arm around his shoulder, giving him a small pat on the back while doing so. "Cheer up, buddy. I know we're safe. We just have to make sure that the other kids are safe as well. Look at the bright side, this is our first mission together."

"And we're infiltrating the Sphere's guardian academy" he smirked.

"Cheng!"

His mouth shaped to an 'O' when he realized his mishap, followed by Lena who realized that she had shouted his name.

"For our first mission together, we're not doing very well, are we?" Lena sighed, playing with the fabric of her little red scarf out of nervosity.

"If we mess this up, Iziel wins the councils voting and it'll mean the end of… well, what we are."

"You're overreacting-"

"No, Cheng, I've heard them talk during their meeting at the Galconda Bloc. Iziel wants to strategically place a bomb, bust the children out and escape."

"But that'll never work! We might've gotten in but that doesn't mean the place isn't well secured. Put a crack in one of those walls and you'll set off the entire alarm system. And that'll result in many Sphere agents being here! Oh and the casualties-"

"I get it" she interrupted him. "I get it, really. That's why this has to work. We can do this together. Get everyone out, safe and sound. We'll prove what we're worth and make the captain proud."


	2. Chapter 1: Fatal

**Chapter 1: Fatal**

**Guardian Academy**

"Silly child, you really thought your plan would work?" Lena expected a laugh from the guardian but the man was so painfully serious that she wasn't sure if she should speak or hold her silence. His ethics reminded her of Diwan. Strong willing, name calling, bald. But this man had something special. Perhaps it was the fact that he was well over 6ft tall and that he was by far more masculine than the old female guardian was. Or maybe it was his face which was covered with terrifying scars. This man had seen many things and for sure he wouldn't be afraid to battle a 12-year-old girl. Heck, Lena even expected he'd take Cortes on if he had to.

"Not so willing to speak, are we?" The man folded his hands and sighed. "Shame" he said.  
"I heard many stories about you, lady of light. Or well, that's what they called you. They being Diwan and that lunatic Oslo. But do not fear him, he's gone now."

Lena's curiosity took over and she asked in a raspy voice: "what happened to him?" The man walked towards her and cupped her chin in his big hands. "Let's say he's currently enjoying his early retirement far away from the Sphere's G.O." He returned to his pristine white seat. It wasn't the only thing in the room that was white. The Sphere was known for their over-usage of it. Perhaps they thought that their actions were pure or maybe it was so they could fool people. White, something people see as pure and good. No harm done. But Lena knew better.

Lena cleared her throat and took a deep breath. An early retirement sounded rather unbelievable. She was fairly certain that he meant that Oslo was gone. Taken care off. She took some time to calculate her next move. She didn't want to stop him to talk. If there's one weakness in evil people, it's pride. Bad people are so proud of their evil schemes that they love sharing it to the finest details and that was exactly what Lena needed.

"What's a G.O.? I've never heard of it?" She cursed her curiosity but was at the same time very grateful that she wasn't too scared to talk. It wasn't the best thing to ask and she much rather had asked what he'd do next to her.

"The G.O. is the General Order of the Sphere. You see, after a few incidents with Oslo, we decided that we no longer need _puppets_ like him to deal with people like you. Pirates. You're just a 12-year-old girl. An utter waste of our resources to hunt you down while you're so ordinary. Though the resemblance with your mother is uncanny." The man smirked and stared at Lena as she uncomfortably wiggled her arms a bit to make some room from the brigadiers' tight grip. After a minute or two he gestured the robot to loosen the grip.

"Worthless robot, isn't it?" the man sighed when he noticed that Lena had gotten back to staying silent. "Luckily they'll soon all be replaced" he added, but yet again he didn't receive any response.

"Requesting entrance for a new prisoner from brigadier A-59i" the sudden sound coming from the robot behind her startled Lena a bit.

"Fantastic. Let him in." The man clapped in his hands and smiled.

Fear got the best of Lena. A new prisoner. A new male prisoner. For sure this must be Cheng. He must've known that he was with her. Or worse, Cheng made a scene, limiting the odds of them escaping the academy.

The doors opened and a high tech looking robot walked in while holding Cheng in the air. Unlike the brigadier holding Lena, this one didn't need any back-up. It was taller, seemingly faster and looked a lot more dangerous. If the Vector were here, he'd be amazed and ready to study it.

The new brigadier stopped in front of the guardian. "Unidentified child, registered to the academy as Gyuen Manx."

"Very well. Register your prisoner as a child pirate. The name is Cheng Cortes, adoptive son of Aran Cortes." The guardian gave Lena a promising look and within a minute the brigadier gave a confirmation.

"Solar-brigs database updated" was all he said before he dropped Cheng on the ground, turned around and walked away.

"You really thought we wouldn't recognize you, Cheng?"

Cheng looked at Lena, his face a mixture of shock and fear. He wasn't sure how to respond. Should he run? Should he free Lena right now? If he jumped, would there be ground or would he fall to eternity? Lena's face seemed expressionless. They were doomed.

"You're the son of Aran Cortes. One of the most annoying pirates around. He's a very persistent man. And you're always on the ship with him, aren't you?"

"I'm not telling you _anything_."

"Stubborn, just like him. I must say, there's one thing that bothers me the most. Personally I'd never let my son work on my ship. Like a slave, stuck on a rusty flying scrape yard."

"You know nothing."

"And you learn nothing!" the guardian shouted back at him, his arms in the air out of anger.

"You force children to be stuck in this place. To grow up with your sick ideology. A slave to the society that you created."

The guardian just laughed at Cheng's response and later on said: "listen to you. So intelligent. You should be at a proper school, not a ship."

The young male pirate got fed up with the man's insults and pushed him back, out of his comfort zone. "As if you care about me or any of these children."

"I've seen your mother grow up and I know that this wouldn't have been the life she wanted for you."

Cheng swallowed loudly, trying to get rid of the sudden lump in his throat, but he still couldn't speak. He had heard many stories about his mother. He knew for sure that she didn't grew up in Sphere territory.

"You're lying."

"I'm not" the man shook his head. "If you can't win, you join and adjust."

* * *

**The Tempête (Iziel's ship)**

"Captain, we just received an intel from our source at the guardian academy."

"Speak, Shoomday" Iziel turned around in her high captain chair to her second lieutenant.

"A solar-brig just processed a new query. It read that it's Cortes' son, Cheng."

"A solar-brig?" Mahad asked as he entered the control room. "What's that? And what does it mean that he processed a query?"

"Mahad, it's a new high-tech brig. Twice as fast, can register pirates on its own and share the information via a linked connection through the Sphere's database." Haneko said in a matter-of fact tone before returning to her position.

"Cortes barely taught you anything" Iziel sighed. "That the solar-brig processed the data must mean that he captured Cheng."

"If he captured Cheng then they must have my sister as well! How can they be so stupid! Did they seriously send two kids to a guardian training prison or whatever?" Mahad hit the wall with anger. His fingers clenching a steel pipe. He wasn't strong enough to break it, but the tight grip kept him focussed. He must free Lena and Cheng before they'd be shipped off to Oslo.

"We must pursue our earlier plans." Iziel said, completely ignoring Mahad's plea. She wasn't an easy person to convince your plan to.

"But captain, we don't have permission from the other rebellion leaders." Shoomday got angry, slamming his fists on the old rusty metal computer frame.

"I don't care. We must do it so we will. Mahad?" She put her finger under his chin and lift his face up. "Don't worry, we'll free Lena regardless of Cortes' incompetence."

It was a matter of minutes before the captain's room was filled with the best pirates that her ship had to offer. The anticipation was high and the room crowded.

"OK, everyone shut your mouth for a while. It's from utmost importance that we plan this well."

"Don't we just do the plan we had before?" a crew member in the back asked.

Iziel nervously looked at Mahad and said "no. No, we can't."

"Why don't we copy their plan and get in ourselves?"

"Minao, it's a guardian academy. We don't have any seijins at all. It wouldn't be believable. We need something good. Not just something to free them, but also a way to leave our print. To get our name out."

"You can't use my sister's freedom to make a name of yourself." Mahad slammed his hands on the table.

"No, no. You misunderstood me. You know I'd never do that, you know you mean a lot to me. To us all." Iziel gave a reassuring smile before continuing "but we need people to know that they shouldn't mess with pirates. That's what we are, right? That's what you're proud of! You're the son of Marcus Farrell, he'd never leave without a bang." Iziel knew Mahad's weakness all too well. Anyone who'd mention his father would have his undivided attention,

"Of course I want to do good."

"Good boy" Iziel winked, "I was thinking of breaking in from the front. We can get some help from friends nearby. Threaten them, get Lena and Cheng out of there and escape."

"What about the other kids?"

"We'll come back for them later, Mahad. And if you see a kid and you can grab him, you can always take him with you. But for now we must focus on our own, then worry about others."

"I can ask Saint Rico to help, their ships are fast and they're nearby."

"OK. Take your team with you, John. Then we'll prepare the attack and keep you updated once we're ready." The man left the room with two others.

"Mahad, why don't you help Haneko. We'll prepare it on our own."

"No, Iziel. This is my sister you're talking about I have to-"

"Mahad, I know. But don't you think your judgement is a bit different at the moment? Don't worry. The basic idea is there. The rest is just who has which position. You already know yours. Get Lena and get out of there. But Haneko could really use your help up there."

Mahad nodded and left the room.

"Now that he's gone, we'll have to discuss a different plan."

"But what about John and his team?" a crew member asked.

"Don't worry, he knew I'd change the plan. We have to make our mark, show the world we exist. And this is the perfect opportunity to do so."

"What do you have in mind?" Shoomday asked the young captain.

"Easy. An engine bomb."

* * *

**Guardian Academy**

"Lena, look who's here." Cheng poked Lena awake with his elbow. Their arms were tied up behind their back, their bodies still limp from the drug that they had been given earlier.

They were waiting for their doom near the windows, far away from the doors to prevent an escape. The sun was coming down, the glow of it still making the room comfortably warm.

Lena looked up, her eyes barely focussing. As a minute passed by she started to recognize the shape of the ship that Mahad flew away in.

"He flew by a few times before I was able to attract his attention" Cheng said, completely out of breath.

Lena smiled, her hope returning. Her mother was right, he needed some time. But eventually, he always came back.

They heard a few loud ticks.

"What was that?" Cheng asked. Lena wanted to tell him that she had no idea what it possibly could be but she was still too drugged out.

There was a short moment of silence before the room became white. A strong and wild force pushed her body forwards. Her mind unable to grasp the seriousness of the situation, her body unable to fight the sudden force. Her body launched to the other side of the room, smashing against the wall while glass perforated her back from behind before she fell to the ground. The sound was unbearable, a loud bang had caused a high pitch tone to overtake Lena's hearing system. Cheng lay nearby, his arms could see him scream but she couldn't hear what he was saying. She started screaming and babbling out of agony.

Cheng wanted to reach out to her but his foot was stuck. He had no idea what Lena was saying until she started screaming "OW!".

"Lena, calm down. I'm here. Don't worry!" he shouted at her but she kept screaming. He knew something was wrong. He turned around and started to push the concrete beam off his foot but he was unable to move it. He noticed that Lena had finally stopped screaming and looked around to where she was lying.

Her head was bleeding and there was blood coming from her neck. As well as that she had blood on her teeth.

"Lena, stay awake! You hear me? Don't close your eyes!"

But it was too late, Lena was already losing her consciousness.

* * *

**Author note:  
Updated, changed a few things. Easier to read, a bit more detail, added place names above scenes so it's easier to understand where it is and as you might have noticed: a smaller chapter title!**

I named Iziel's unnamed ship the "Tempête" which is French for "storm". I personally thought it matched her personality (and the trouble that follows her wherever she goes) very well. Let me know what you think of the name! If you think something else fits better, just tell me and I'll consider it.


	3. Chapter 2: Tempest

**Chapter 2: Tempest**

**Guardian academy**

There was smoke everywhere. Surrounding her, embracing her, going inside of her when she breathed. The wind blew it right into her face but the good news is: it was blowing away from the ruins.

_Tick_. _Tick_. _Tick_.

Murmuring. All she could understand was 'stuck' and 'get me out of here'. She ran her hand through her light auburn coloured hair before she sighed and made her way to the wreckage. The ship was badly damaged but surprisingly enough, the cock pit was fully in-tact.

She could hear the young man mutter "finally" but ignored his remark. It took her about half-a-minute to figure out a way to get the glass frame to open. She moved her dark green leather coat out of the way and exposed her brown work-boot and held it above the cockpit.

The young man's eyes became big and before he could tell her to stop, she kicked a few times and the frame unlocked, freeing him.

"What were you thinking? You could've broken the glass and badly injured me!" Mahad grabbed her shoulders and shook her but the woman was unimpressed.

"Do you prefer to be locked up? Because I can push you right back in and close it again."

"Whatever" Mahad looked around, gasping when he saw the damage. He couldn't see it before due to the smoke covering his glass but now that he saw it, panic hit him.

"Lena" he tried to climb on one of the busted walls but it was too weak to carry him and just crumbled right underneath his fingers. "Where is Lena?"

"Your sister? She was in the building?" The woman had made her way towards the back of the ship and studied the engine.

Mahad just nodded and looked for a new way to get inside the building.

The woman walked up next to him and pointed at a side spot, If done carefully, they could enter the building by climbing a nearby windowsill and entering the broken window.

They made their way in silence. Mahad wasn't sure whether to trust the seemingly dangerous stranger or to find a way to get rid of her. She seemed to know what she was doing and she didn't carry anything related to the Sphere. In fact, her rather interesting outfit was far too wild to suggest that she was related to them in any way.

"I'm not from the Sphere" the woman said as if she read his mind.

"Do you have a name?" Mahad said as he struggled to keep his balance. Beneath them was nothing but the sky and some smoke. A one-way ticket to Hell.

"Yes."

Mahad misstepped and nearly plunged to his death but once again, the odd stranger saved his life.

She pushed him through the broken window with force, causing him to get a few cuts in his legs.

Mahad scolded as he fell on the floor. She jumped after him and muttered "cry baby" before continuing her way.

The building was even worse on the inside. The pillars to hold it up were cracked, the ceiling was damaged and even broken at certain areas and none of the doors seemed to have survived. The air smelled even fouler, a scent of smoke; smouldering wood and burned flesh infiltrated their noses.

"Lena!" Mahad yelled.

The woman hit him on his head and hissed "don't yell, the vibrations can cause the roof to collapse."

A loud cracking noise rang through the building. "What's that?" Mahad asked the woman in panic.

The woman's eyes became big, "the pillar is breaking, run!"

* * *

**Saint Nazaire**

The captain was in his usual seat. The ship was quite empty, less crew members to carry more water. They had continued their daily life after Lena and Cheng had started their mission. The more things stayed normal: the more both the captain and Mila stayed sane.

While the captain was uncertain about one child, Mila was it about both of her kids. Her son in his thousandth mood swing causing him to run off to a rather unconventional captain and her daughter in a highly guarded Sphere school. The school she once went to and most likely it had become even worse after she _escaped_ it.

"Dahlia, how's the course looking?"

"It looks clear, sir." Dahlia was sitting all by herself. Her fellow lieutenant had gone on his honeymoon. The silence drove Dahlia a bit insane, no conversations going on since Cortes absolutely hated distractions. Though having the complete responsibility and not having to answer to a first-lieutenant for the upcoming weeks was a nice change.

The Vector entered the controlling area and made his way towards Cortes.

"Captain, can you come down please?"

Cortes sighed and got up, "this better be important" he said while he came down the ladder that led to his high chair.

"I just got contacted by Pratuchai, it's better if you sit down." He gestured towards the seat at the statistics panel.

Cortes became suspicious and frowned, "what's this about? First you tell me to come down and now you tell me to sit?"

"You wanted to see me?" Mila said as she entered the room.

The Vector sighed and knew that both the captain and Mila were too stubborn to take a seat. He took a minute to think about how he'd bring the news. Cortes was starting to look annoyed and fold his arms and Mila rested her arm on one hip.

"Just spill it out, will ya'?"

"Cortes, Mila... There has been an accident."

Mila gasped, she knew this tone. She knew his expression. It was the same way he brought it when something had happened to Marcus.

"Mahad" she whispered. Who else could it be? Her son always got into trouble, provoking not only the Sphere but also pirates. Was it faith that he'd end like his father?

"No" the Vector whispered and shook his head.

"Then what?" Cortes grew impatient.

"Lena and Cheng's cover is blown" she didn't ask it, she was certain of it. "I knew they were too young."

The Vector became annoyed by their assumptions and yelled: "would you listen to me for once and not interrupt me?"

He sighed and continued, "their cover wasn't blown. There was an explosion at the Guardian Academy." Cortes' eyes became wide and Mila's face was mortified.

"I'm so sorry, Mila. Cortes."

Cortes cleared his throat, "are there survivors?"

"According to what is known so far, no."

Mila burst into tears. Cortes could just catch her before she fell to the ground. Dahlia had come to the scene, tears running down her face. She swallowed the lump in her throat away.

"Mahad was there too" she whispered, looking at the ground.

Mila looked up to her, "what?"

"I saw his ship on the radar a while ago, it disappeared so I thought it was a mistake or that Iziel uses a sky program as well."

"That boy is bloody foolish. And I don't believe it when sources claim that there are no survivors. That's not in my dictionary, the only valid source is me" the redheaded-stubborn captain said. Still courageous but dangerously not accepting that there was a chance that he'd never see his only son back alive and well.

A few minutes passed, no one knew what to say next. No one had the right words on their mind or the correct actions planned ahead.

"We're going there." Cortes let go of Mila, got up and returned to his position.

The Vector went after him and climbed up the ladder. "Cortes, that's insane! The area is surrounded by Sphere patrollers."

"I'll be damned to let those kids stay behind" the captain said before releasing all the water that his ship was carrying so he could reach his son, Mahad and Lena's location sooner. His priority had shifted from providing his people with water to saving his beloved children. At least, that's how he saw them.

* * *

**The Tempête**

Shoomday climbed on the ladder towards the high chair where his captain, Iziel, was in her position. He stood behind her and lay his hand on her shoulder.

"The word is going out that there has been an explosion in the Guardian Academy."

Iziel smirked, "very well. Soon the Sphere will know not to mess with pirates and all the pirates will know how far we go. We'll be all they'll be talking about."

"But they're saying that there are no survivors" Haneko said from her position at the statistics panel. "We're supposed to help people, not kill them."

Iziel became noticeably uncomfortable by the sudden distrust from her crew member. She turned around and stood up, placing her hands on the steel balustrade. She eyed Haneko suspiciously.

"Are you saying that I don't know what I'm doing?"

"No, I-"

"Haneko. Do you really think I'm able to hurt innocent people? Those who have not survived were people who held children captive. If there are children who haven't survived – and I'm not saying that this is the case, for all we know they're all safe – those are probably the ones that were already brainwashed too much by the Sphere. I'm not saying that killing them is good. But we didn't kill them, we saved them. Right now the Sphere will rescue them and transport them to a different location, once they're doing that we'll have the opportunity to free them."

Haneko nodded and focused on her work again. Somehow the young captain's words made perfect sense to her.

* * *

**Guardian Academy**

The young woman her face was bruised from the debris that had fallen on her. Mahad was coughing from the smoke and dust that had filled his lungs. She touched Mahad's arm and he flinched. A bit of blood was going through the fabric of his vest.

She got up and unzipped his jacket, then used it to stop his wound from bleeding.

"It's superficial" she said as she got up and continued to search for survivors.

Mahad ignored the feeling in his gut that told him to thank her and continued his way as well. This time he made sure not to yell any names. He wasn't certain if his yelling had caused the pillar to collapse but he wasn't taking any chances.

As the time flew by, the sun started to disappear and so did the chance of finding any survivors, including Lena and Cheng.

Mahad felt useless for the first time in his life. Worthless even. He wasn't sure what to do. He couldn't scream their name, he couldn't contact Iziel to request for help. Knowing her she'd probably tell him to save himself. It was at a time like this that he missed his old captain. Cortes knew how to stay calm at the worst possible situations. Always reassuring his crew members.

He heard someone say "ow" when he climbed over a piece of debris. His hope got up and he signed for the woman to come closer. She made her way carefully back, she never flinched. Not even when she grabbed a sharp piece of glass in order to pull herself up and get to Mahad's place.

Together they lifted a heavy piece of debris. They barely got it out of the way but it was just enough to see a bruised and bloody face.

"Help me" the man said. Mahad recognized his face. It was the man who held his sister and Cheng captive earlier. He grabbed the man at his collar and angrily asked "where is my sister?"

The man didn't respond, instead he just grinned.

"Rot in Hell" the woman said as she angrily pushed the debris back on top of the man.

"He was in the room with them when the explosion occurred. They must be near." Mahad recited.  
"Do you know which colour their clothes were?"

Mahad thought about it for a few seconds. All he could think about was his sister wearing her favourite white overall. Her laughter, her voice, her smell.

"I asked if you remember their clothes." The woman got annoyed and continued her way to the west side of the building, towards the place where Mahad could remember seeing them.

He went after her and said "standard guardian clothing I guess. Light blue with a sphere logo."

The space was impossible to search. There was glass and debris everywhere, the white walls had turned grey from the dust and smoke and there was a small fire near electrical cords. By now most of the smoke had gone away but there were no lights and it was becoming dark. There was the sound of an occasional patroller flying by, scanning the area for survivors but so far no one had entered the building yet. No doubt that the Sphere had deemed the school too dangerous for anyone to enter.

The woman made her way towards what appeared to be a broken desk, "Mahad, I see light blue fabric." She moved the wood and started removing the debris on top.

Mahad made his way towards her, stumbling over pieces of the roof. The wind was getting stronger and the roof started to crack.

"That's a big piece, we'll never get it out of the way."

"You're such a pessimist" she said as she started to lift the big piece. "Are you going to help me or what?"

Mahad grabbed the other side and started to lift.

"This is impossible" he grunted, his body covered with sweat.

"Shut up" she said out of breath as she pulled harder.

After a while the piece finally started to move, "OK, now, give it all you got" she said.

When they removed the piece, a badly injured Cheng appeared. His leg was blue from the lack of blood that the big piece of debris had caused. He coughed before saying "Lena, isn't responding."  
The woman helped Cheng get up and Mahad climbed into the small space Cheng had just been in.

"You have to give your body some time to continue the blood flow in your leg" the woman said as she took off her jacket and wrapped it tightly around Cheng.

"Lena, wake up" Mahad had made his way to her, he stroked her cheeks to which she respond with a groan.

A loud crack disturbed the silence. Parts of the roof were starting to fall down. The woman didn't hesitate once when she launched at Cheng and they both fell to the ground, rubble hit her as she protected his body from more injury.

* * *

**Puerto Angel**

"Wayan to Saint Nazaire, what's your location?" Wayan was sitting in the café, out of breath. His wife had her hands reassuringly on his shoulders.

"Wayan, you're back! We're near the academy, we'll be there in 30 minutes." Dahlia's voice noted over the radio.

"We returned as soon as we heard. We're waiting for a friend to pick us up and we'll head towards your location."

"I'll send you our coordinates."

"Oh, and Dahlia. Tell Cortes and Mila that we're thinking about them. Stay strong." Wayan's wife said. He smiled at her lovingly and placed a kiss on her right hand.

"Of course, Dita. Saint Nazaire out." And the radio went silent.

* * *

**Author notes:**

**Tempest: A violent wind; a violent commotion or disturbance. - It refers to both the wind that causes the pillar and the roof to collapse, the sudden news that the Vector brings to Mila and Cortes and the sudden disturbance in Wayan's honeymoon.**

Hope you guys like this writing style a bit better. I did read your reviews and tried to adjust accordingly to it: I updated the prologue and the first chapter as well.

It's a bit out of the blue that Wayan is married, I know. But it always felt like there was something missing, his character failed to develop because of this. I'm not saying that you have to get married. But he's so loyal and strong that I feel like he has a wife at home who's also a pirate but helps in her own way. For example by having a bit of medical knowledge. Dita doesn't fight, she simply provides aid. Oh and her full first name is "Perdita", it's from an old Shakespeare play. Perdita means "lost (as a baby)". I wanted an old-fashioned name that fits the show in the best way that's possible. And in my opinion, Perdita was the best option. You don't know pirates their past: they're a thrown-together-family and you simply love it. Though Perdita is a bit of a mouth full so instead people nickname her "Dita". Like it? Hate it? Just let me know.


	4. Chapter 3: Perceive

**Chapter 3: Perceive**

**Sphere Headquarters**

A woman stood in front of a closed door. All though the door was mostly made of glass, you couldn't see through it. She pressed the round button, waiting to hear the words "come in", which after a minute she did.

She made her way through the clinically looking white room, her feet barely making a sound. She was a well-trained brigadier with a promising future within the Sphere's killing routine. Not that she knew any better, her entire family, except aunt Jet, was involved in the '_good_' deeds of the Sphere. In fact, it was her father who took credit for killing the most notorious pirate, Marcus Farrell. And it was he, who was sitting on the right side of the yet-to-be-named man. He wasn't unknown, it was just the Sphere's policy that once you were in: you'd know all, but the rest would remain in the dark to prevent them from giving the enemy any vital information, And sadly, for the Sphere, the pirates weren't their only enemy.

"Miss Laila, proceed" the one in the front seat of the twelve filled ones said. The 'head' of the table didn't speak and you didn't speak to him unless spoken to.

"Gentlemen, there are several pirate ships approaching the ruins of the Guardian Academy. One of them is the Saint Nazaire, former-" Laila paused midsentence when her father mouthed "stop". Apparently, they didn't want to hear _his_ name or information that they already knew: Laila wasn't sure about that.

Laila fought the urge to play with her short, curly raven hair - like she used to – as the men were quietly discussing the new information.

After a few minutes, the man who had spoken earlier cleared his throat. His green eyes piercing through Laila. If it wasn't for his creepy authority-demanding posture and permanently evil set face, she'd consider his eyes beautiful.

"We decided that we won't lower to their level. Risking lives just to see if anyone survived there. Besides, our new Solar-Brigg already scanned for heat and he couldn't find any except small fires. They're wasting their time"

Laila was about to respond when the man continued, "and no, we will not arrest any pirates. Children's lives were lost and if we were to capture pirates on the scene right now, it would cause utter chaos. People have already been suspicious about some of the children who were admitted there. We must let people find their own way to grief." The man turned around, followed by the other men their faces. They continued their meeting as if Laila didn't exist.

* * *

**Guardian Academy**

It had just become completely dark when the Saint Nazaire safely manoeuvred between Red Rock's ship the Astro Rubis and Salamanca's Fuerte Soltera.

The captain's face expressed his well-hidden worries, his frown's creases set deep in his skin, his eyes concerned and his mouth in a straight line. You couldn't often find the captain expressing his emotions in such a way, he always knew how to hide it to keep his crew calm. But this wasn't the time for him to comfort his crew, he couldn't care less if they were anxious for a fight. He did care about their safety, though. But his highest priority was saving his son and the two kids that he nearly saw as his own, no matter how stupid one of them might be.

He murmured a praise to Dahlia before leaving his post. They had spend the previous 30 minutes planning a safe way to approach and how to find them, and perhaps other survivors. They had worried about a fight but to their surprise, there wasn't a single Sphere ship left in the area.

"Nothing on the radar" Dahlia said to the captain as she followed his lead, "it was crowded with patrollers a few hours ago."

The captain shrugged at first but then added "perhaps they've given up". Dahlia wasn't sure whether to imagine him saying "but I haven't" or "perhaps I should too". For his sake, she hoped it was the first.

To the captain's agony, the crew had trouble with setting up lights. The Saint Nazaire's search light only could help so much and unfortunately it didn't reach all the places.

The Vector approached the captain from behind, putting his hand on his shoulder for a split second to show his support. "The ship can provide light for 2 hours – if we're lucky. The searching lights are too bright to last long, they require too much power."

"But we need it. The more light we have, the sooner we'll find them." Before the Vector could object to it, the captain left him behind.

It took them well over an hour before they could strategically place the lights. Every time they had a new plan, it failed due the debris blocking the way or even having destroyed a potential place for a light. The search plan was easy: the three blocks split their crew evenly in teams of three each so that if anything went wrong, two others would be there to help.

While Mila claimed the spot of leading several teams to safety, Cortes took matters in his own hands and went out to search with Red Rock's leader, Dax, and one of his crew members.

In many ways, Dax was just like Cortes. Strong-headed, straight forward, demanding and always put his crew first. Not only that, Dax was an old friend of Marcus and had helped him lead the _original_ rebellion back in the days. The battle had taken its toll on Dax over time and during the blast of his ship, Dax had lost his left eye and gained an eerie scar on his face. His rusty brown hair, which started to grey on the sides, was permanently in a messy-do. But this man's actions weren't messy in any way: he planned ahead, knew what to do and never panicked once. Exactly why Cortes liked him but had chosen to keep his distance.

"Several bodies have been found already, some too young to even mention" Dax' 'Godfather-like' voice, as Lena once said it sound like, startled Cortes a bit. Cortes answered with a sigh and shook his head.

"I ordered them to mark the position first. If we find survivors, it's not smart to take bodies with us. We need space to transport the wounded." Dax climbed up against which seemed to previously have been a pillar and offered his hand to help Cortes up.

"Not to forget to mention that it would scare the children" Dax' crew member said as he took his captain's hand and struggled to climb the debris.

"And this didn't? An explosion? I don't give a damn about scaring them now. The Sphere already did that." Dax turned around and ignored his crew member. Cortes only coughed as a response to the awkward situation and helped himself climb up against the debris.

The lights certainly helped a lot since this was a generally very dark area. There were no other blocks nearby, most likely to prevent people from helping 'guardians-to-be' from escaping, and thus there was no other source of light than the moon.

"You hear that, captain?" Both Dax and Cortes responded to the crew members' question.

Dax lowered himself and pierced his eyes, putting his finger in front of his mouth as a sign that the others had to stay quiet. It took a minute before the sound returned. It was almost like a mumbling or hushing sound. Unclear but not in pain. Dax looked through a crack and saw on the floor below him a young girl, waving. Her lips curled up when she noticed that the man had seen her.

"A young girl, she looks fine. Is there a way to get to her?" Dax eyed his crew member to which he ran off to look for a staircase or an opening towards the floor.

"Is it Lena, what does she look like?" Cortes asked nervously.

"Blond."

"Oh", all though he almost whispered it, the disappointment in Cortes' voice was very noticeable.

The crew member returned, dust and dirt on his face and a slit in his shirt. He took a second to catch his breath before saying "no... way, to enter". He sat down and leaned to the remains of a wall. The two captains looked at each other and without saying a word, walked over to a piece of flooring that seemed broken and started to lift it up. While grunting, and most likely wishing they were 20 years junior, they put in all their power to lift it up. Sweat running down their faces and backs. When they finally got it they dropped it, causing it to nearly fall on the crew members' feet to which he responded "hey!"

Dax jumped down and checked the girl for injuries but surprisingly, besides being covered in dust, she was perfectly fine. He lifted her up and handed her over to Cortes before climbing back up again.

"I can walk, thank you." Cortes realized that the little girl wasn't as little as he imagined her to be, she was at least 12 and most likely in the middle of her training, thus a potential threat to the secrecy of the pirates' hiding place. But he let it go, not really caring about a pre-teen telling the world that pirates really do exist.

The three of them guided the girl to the Fuerte Soltera where Wayan and his wife, Perdita, were eagerly waiting. Dita, as she preferred to be called, immediately comforted the girl and checked for any injuries that couldn't be seen on the first sight.

"You're fine, sweetie. You'll just have a bit of bruising on your legs but it'll do no harm. Why don't you go inside to Mila and she'll get you something to drink to flush down all the dust stuck in your throat." The girl said a simple thanks and then headed inside the ship with Dax' crew member.

"Any other kids found?" Cortes looked at Dita, grateful that his right-hand had married such a caring and useful woman.

"Three" Dita said to which Wayan responded "and a Sphere brigadier."

"Could you believe that guy? He lost his leg and still shouted that he would single-handedly kill us" Dita laughed and continued "Dahlia stuffed him in a mosquito and dumped him at a nearby Sphere medical care centre."

"No word on the children's' whereabouts yet, captain. But we can team up and continue looking." Wayan grabbed his grey rucksack and took off with the two captains.

Time went by and two hours later, just like the Vector had predicted, the search lights had to be turned off to prevent the Saint Nazaire from not having enough power to fly back. Unfortunately the Astro Rubis and Fuerte Soltera didn't have a split-power function and thus couldn't provide the electricity, despite the ships being nearly the same size as the Saint Nazaire and the Astro Rubis being significantly less old than the other two.

Mila looked at the happenings from above, her heart beating fast even though she felt like it was frozen: as if it couldn't beat as long as her children weren't in her arms. Trying to distract herself, she imagined the scene to be less horrific. And in some ways, it was almost as beautiful as a movie scene. The blue night, the beautiful stars, the bright moon in its first quarter phase, the flashlights breaking up the dark, the debris that almost looked like the Greek ruins as she used to see in history books, the murmuring as if it's something that's happening far away. So far away that maybe she wasn't even part of it. Except that she was, she just had to remind herself of it.

"Cortes!" she heard a voice shout in the distance. Immediately multiple flash lights were pointed at the source.

Next to a young pirate named Kyle stood a woman and in her arms which seemed to be the unconscious body of Cheng. Within a few minutes multiple teams and Mila had reached their location.

"Where was he, is he OK?" Kyle asked the woman to which she responded "yes, he's fine. Just dehydrated and fatigued."

"Where are the others?" Mila pleaded as she brushed some dust of Cheng's cheeks.

Cortes interrupted them before the woman could answer and took Cheng out of her hands. The abrupt change caused Cheng to groan.

"You're OK, you're OK" Cortes said as he smiled and if she didn't knew better, Mila could've sworn he nearly cried of happiness.

Cortes looked at the woman and thanked her, then put Cheng in a more comfortable position, grateful that his son was safe and sound and luckily not too heavy to carry yet. Cheng's face was pained, a bit bruised but most of all covered in dust.

"If you're the mother of the most annoying twat in whole of Skyland, then I'm pleased to say that your son is all right. He hasn't shut up for hours and refused to leave his sister behind."

Mila sighed with relief. An annoying twat that wouldn't leave his sister behind, that's her son all right.

"Leave his sister behind?" Cortes asked the woman.

"She's in a rough shape, in fact; we should head there over now. We had to help her breathe when we found her, she has a lot of dust in her lungs."

Mila's face was mortified but before she could head to the direction Cortes stopped her.

"Mila, please, let me do this. Cheng needs your help right now. Wayan and I will get Lena out there." Cortes looked at her reassuringly, shifting his weight to his left leg to cut his back some slack from carrying Cheng. After a few seconds Mila just took off on her own, deciding that nothing will stop her from seeing her daughter: not even if she was in a rough shape.

"I'll go after her, bring Cheng to Dita, she'll get him in tip-top shape in no time." Wayan patted Cortes' back before he stormed after Mila, followed by the mysterious woman who had previously taken Cheng to safety.

"Mila, wait, the floor is weak here. Let me go first, I'll know exactly where to slip through a crack to get to the place. She's in a terrible position, there's debris surrounding her all over." The woman took the lead without waiting for a response or permission, clearly thinking she wouldn't need it. After a bit of dodging and walking over dangerously cracking floors, she suddenly stopped and slid through a dark crack. It wasn't tiny but it was so dark that you had no clue what was below it.

When jumping through it, Mila nearly hit her head against a pole. Wayan wasn't as lucky, he fell right on the edge of a solid brick, his leg slipping and then his bum hitting it full on.

"Ow!" He yelled as he jumped up. "That will be a nasty bruise" he said as he rubbed his behind.

The woman ignored his antics and continued her way, this time walking less cautiously. This floor was the lowest level, the biggest danger was the ceiling falling down on them. Which wasn't very comforting to know but at least they didn't have to pay as much attention where to walk.

Mila shivered when Wayan touched a hand and felt the wrist to check the pulse. The rest of the body couldn't be seen and judging by how he walked away, from this seemingly young person, it was too late.

"Mom" Mahad's face lightened up when they reached their location, "look, Lena, mom is here."

Mila felt saddened to see them in this position. It was almost as if her son was a youngster, talking to his dead dog. Holding on, believing he'll come back: he's just asleep.

Lena's face was peaceful, not a single hint of her being in pain could be seen. But when Mila got closer to her daughter, she saw that she must be in a lot of pain. Her clothes were covered with blood and around her leg was which seemed to be a green leather coat tightly wrapped

Mila kneeled down next to her children and gave them each a kiss on their forehead. Soothed to hear her young daughter breathe evenly.

"She doesn't look like she's in pain." Mila looked questioningly at the woman.

"I gave her some rum to knock her out, then set her leg with my coat." The woman blew a few strands of her light-auburn-coloured hair out of her face.

"You gave my daughter alcohol? She's twelve!"

"You prefer that I had kept her screaming in pain and bleeding out?"

The remark was a bit nasty in Mila's opinion, but it did help her realize that the woman was right. If it helped her daughter to be asleep so peacefully despite being injured, then perhaps it wasn't that bad of a choice after all.

Wayan checked Lena's body for more injuries that might prevent them from carrying her back to the ship. Lena's leg was broken and sliced open, her chest was covered in bruises and thus most likely she had fractured ribs and her right cheek had a cut in it, but luckily her spine seemed fine.

Wayan picked her up slowly, adjusting her position a bit. Mila helped him and put Lena's arms around his neck and her face on his shoulder to offer some support.

"Will you lead the way, Mahad? I can't see the floor right ahead of me. Be careful, though."

Mahad nodded and led the way back to the crack he had previously seen the woman climb up with Cheng in her arms.

"Thank you for helping us. What's your name?" Mila asked the woman.

"January" she said to which Mahad gave her an odd look, mad that she wouldn't answer his question properly but did answer this one.

"Well, now we know when your birthday month is." Mahad muttered.

"My birthday is in October."

Mahad shook his head and scolded, "unbelievable" he muttered.

* * *

**Saint Nazaire**

The Saint Nazaire was well on his way back to Puerto Angel. The Astro Rubis and Fuerte Soltera had went separate ways towards their own blocks, each carrying survivors. In total 27 children, not including the three young pirates, had miraculously survived. Some only had a few scratches while some were barely even alive. The Saint Nazaire only carried Lena, Mahad, Cheng and January. Astro Rubis' location, Red Rock, was far more favourable to start a search to the parents of the children since it was at the edge of Sphere territory and thus closer to their homes. Salamanca had, for pirates standards, great medical care for the more seriously injured.

Mila had chosen to take Lena home instead of taking her to Salamanca's doctors, trusting Dita to take good care of her.

To Mila's horror, Lena's leg had to be re-set. Due Lena's kicking, January's attempt to set it had failed. On one side, it was good that Lena had finally woken up, but at the other side; she woke up just when they started to pull. It took both Wayan and Cortes to keep her in place so Dita could set the bone right. Thinking about it still sent shivers down Mila's spine.

Mahad was doing well. In fact he was so well that he attempted contacting Iziel, but she refused to answer him. Cortes didn't trust the girl for one bit. She had been the one who wanted to go there, yet when they needed her she failed to show up. And more importantly: why was Mahad there in the first place? Was he the reason the cover was blown?

It wasn't only Cortes who was suspicious about the situation. Dahlia too had her doubts about Iziel's actions. Though, she was afraid her judgement was clouded because Mahad had left her, no, had left everyone, behind to join Iziel. Perhaps she blamed the young captain for that too. And maybe, just maybe, she was jealous. But she couldn't help but find it odd that Mahad's ship disappeared from the radar before the explosion was even reported.

Wayan walked into the controlling room and climbed the small ladder that led to Cortes' seat. He nudged the captain to gain his attention and when he did he whispered "the Vector wants a meeting first thing tomorrow after we all slept."

The captain nodded. His eyes had bags underneath them from the lack of sleep. Wayan made his way back to where he came from, leaving the room silent after a hectic day.

"Dahlia, I want to see you first thing tomorrow after you've had some shut eye." The captain said, trying not to draw too much attention from Mahad.

"Aye aye, captain" Dahlia responded in a sleepy tone.

* * *

**Author notes:**

_Sorry for the delay, lovelies! But thank you so much for the reviews! I changed chapter two a little bit since hyperpsychomanic was a bit concerned by Cortes' lack of response. And even though after we PM'd and I explained it – I still felt like there's truth in it: if Hyper thought I missed out on something and I had to explain it, you guys might feel the same! So I added a line (and fixed a small spelling mistake)! I personally can see him say that "the only valid source is me" or something similar. If you want, just CTRL + F "source" in the last chapter and you can see it. Happy that you like the improvement, Joy! Hope you guys enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I did writing it! Enjoy the nice weather!_

_Lots of words and mainly in one location. I desperately try to stick to how the show does it: scenes in different locations. But this... It just had to be done! First a brief explanation to why the Sphere wasn't there and then the search! The chapter is called 'Perceive' because it hints to the last bit of the story._

_Writing the next chapter right now! Yes, excited!_

_PS: Thinking about changing the rate to T since all though I don't mention anything specifically - there's some blood/angst in it and references to the death. Shall I do it? I mean, the Legend Of Korra is K+ and people literally died in that show, so I'm not sure!_


	5. Chapter 4: Exanimate

**Chapter 4: Exanimate**

**Puerto Angel's haven  
**The sun was just rising when the captain walked in Puerto Angel's haven. His face still showed how the rescue mission had taken its toll on him. Grim looking, eyes red and bags underneath them and his face still pale. The captain was as fatigued as it could be but taking a break was not one of his options.

As the town slowly woke up, he went to the Saint Nazaire's conference room to prepare for the meeting they'd have within the next couple of hours. 5 AM was not a crazy time to roam the streets on this block. Many field workers even had shifts that started at that time. If you wanted to be self-providing, it would come with a cost.

Only a few minutes after the captain sat down, Wayan walked in. Apologizing for being late and then taking a seat next to the captain. Cortes felt guilty that Wayan hadn't been able to finish his honeymoon, feeling like it was the least that Wayan deserved after years of loyal service.

They spend the first hour in silence, sorting out all the paper work that had been submitted: complaints against the Saint Nazaire making too much noise when entering the haven, complaints about crew members talking too loud when returning from a mission, complaints about the east side's sewing system and ideas about improving the tidiness of the block were among it.

Cortes aimed to deal with this kind of paper work every day, normally letting responsible crew members decide whether the complaint or idea is worth for the captain to look at or if they could deal with it themselves. It wasn't very tiring per se, but reading the same complaints over and over was obnoxious and a waste of time. Some things just couldn't be fixed: there were no resources to fix the ship's engine problem and Cortes didn't find it necessary to annoy hard working crew members by silencing them after a long and tiring day.

" The new girl submitted an idea, would you like to read it?" Wayan leaned back in his seat. Sitting was still uncomfortable since his bum still hurt from the fall.

The captain looked up, slightly irritated that Wayan disturbed his concentration. "What's it about?" he said as he put his paper down.

"And therefore I'm suggesting that you accept me as a crew member. Sincerely, January." Wayan quoted from the slightly ruffled paper.

"Throw it away, we're not accepting anyone at the moment" Cortes muttered and added "especially not someone who just moved here."

"Good morning, gentlemen." The Vector made his way into the conference room, blissful as always. Every morning the Vector would spend an hour in his lighthouse, checking the security system and to work on new software. Occasionally Cheng would join him. The past few years Cheng had improved so much that he sometimes even corrected the Vector.

The two men mumbled a simple "morning", both fully concentrated on their paperwork.

It was only a matter of time till the room was filled with the most notorious pirates that Puerto Angel had to offer, excluding Mahad. After discussing his suspicions with Wayan, Cortes decided that it was in everyone's best interest to keep him in the dark. Not only could Mahad's explosive behaviour result in ruining his own reputation, the block's reputation was at stake as well.

Cortes stood up and gestured the rest to either sit down or stay in the back, taking the authority within the room. He was just about to start when January opened the door, apologized a thousand times for being late, closed it and forced herself between others to create a spot.

"You can't be here, you're not trustworthy" raged one of the older mosquito flyers. January didn't really seem to care since she immediately retorted back: "I was the first one at the scene, where were you when we needed back-up?"

The rest of the room didn't seem to care about January's presence and all though Cortes thought that the man, who was one of his most trusted pilots, was right: January could have vital information that could keep Puerto Angel's name clear.

"I thank you all for coming, even though some of you actually had a day off. As you can imagine, both Red Rock and Salamanca are having the same meeting at this very moment. Something tragic happened while two of our own were on a mission. Two children who could have died. And all though one, my son, got out lucky, Lena didn't have this luxury. She's still fighting for her life at this very moment."

Mila whimpered when she heard Cortes say it, heartbroken that it was her child who was injured. A part of her felt guilty. Lena still had a chance of survival. Lena was still breathing at this very moment, while many parents were grieving. For a split second she regretted leaving her daughter at home but she reminded herself that she had to know what had happened and if she could help in any way, she'd do it.

"The circumstances when it comes to the crash were suspicious. Martinez, Dax and I think there's more to it. The Sphere hasn't blamed us yet, meaning they haven't found anything yet. But this can and will change. We must beat them before they beat us. Unless, of course, it somehow is our fault. We need to keep all our options open. Some of you were there, did anyone see anything suspicious? The smallest things can play the greatest part without you even realizing it." Cortes orated, the room silent and obedient. The people in it all gazing at the captain, absent-minded; their face fixed with thoughts of the gruesome scene they had been a part off only a few days ago.

A few of the pirates took turns in speaking, all agreeing that it was mostly one side of the building that had been damaged by a blast, most likely a bomb, if you looked at the soot patterns. The rest of the building has collapsed from the sudden vibrations and the lack of support that the busted pillars offered.

It was Dahlia's suggestion that left most of attendees brooding. According to her, Mahad's ship had disappeared from the radar before the explosion was reported, which was odd since it was linked to the pirates' contacting system: unless in danger, you stayed on each other's radar. Mahad hadn't known about the explosion until it happened, so why would he disable the system?

"I've seen his ship" January faltered as she tried to get to the front so people could actually see her talk. She cleared her throat and tried to ignore the angry looks of a few of the pirates. "Mahad ship was in a bad shape. Only the glass was intact, it didn't make sense to me at all. The entire front was burned. For me there really isn't any other explanation than..." she fell silent when she saw Mila looking dolefully at her.

Nearly everyone understood what she meant but the captain still demanded her to say it out loud. "I think that his ship was the source of the explanation" she confessed, her voice sounding a bit more confident than before. January wasn't a shy person at all and she most certainly wasn't afraid to have a few pirates being angry at her. What was stopping her from speaking her mind was Mila. January pitied the woman that she had to hear her son being accused of having to do with harming many people, including his very own sister.

The room was no longer silent. Everyone had their own theory or accusation ready: Mahad was involved, his ship must have exploded. Some even shouted that he must have done it on purpose in order to gain attention the way his father used to do it or even out of revenge because his sister was permanently in the limelight.

"Shut your geggs" Cortes demanded but apart from a few, no one listened.

"Now everyone shut up!" Cortes fumed, his hands slamming flat on the table. Immediately everyone had their attention focussed on the captain. "Wee scunners, all of you. You're off your heads. How dare you accuse a crew member like this without any proof? If it was indeed his ship, do you really think he was the one who placed the bomb? Think about it."

"Iziel" Mila blurted out, everyone looking at her.

The redheaded captain nodded, "aye. She was the one who wanted us to go there, she was the one who stayed away after the explosion. In fact, she was the one who came up with the idea of placing a bomb to create a distraction."

"But you were all against it, why would she do such a thing on her own?" Dahlia asked, breaking her silence.

"To prove us that she can, to get what she wants, to leave her mark, to get feared by the sphere" Wayan enumerated.

"And she failed this hard? Don't you think it's odd?" Dahlia sat down on the table and shook her head. She knew Iziel couldn't be trusted and she had already suspected her ever since it happened. But now January mentioned the ship, who else could it be but her?

"We don't know anything for sure yet, so we're going there. The sooner the better. If we can figure it out from here, then the Sphere sure as hell can too. And they'd love to pin point it on all of us to keep their own name clear."

* * *

**Saint Nazaire  
**Several hours had passed since the meeting had end: a few teams were assigned and had spend the entire morning preparing, the captain had come up with a plan and the Vector had scanned every radio and radar for any Sphere ships. So far, the Sphere still wasn't involved in any way. All though it seemed good, the captain knew that something was up. Nothing ever came easy, the Sphere knew something they didn't share.

Dahlia and Wayan were in their usual spot, Mila and the Vector refused to come since Lena still didn't feel well and Cheng was grounded to Puerto Angel. Cortes refused to let him go anywhere, especially not to the scene where he nearly lost his life, out of fear that Cheng would develop PTSS. Instead, the youngster spend his days in his room, wondering where it all went wrong.

The captain was busy manoeuvring his ship between the houses when Martinez, Fuerte Soltera's captain, called. His bleak face popped up on Cortes' screen.

"Martinez, what's wrong?" Cortes knew this face all too well. Something bad had happened. Unlike Dax and Cortes, Martinez was a very expressive man: almost like an open book. If he was happy, he could lid up a room but if he was upset...

"I need you to cancel your mission, Cortes." Martinez said fast-paced with a strong Spanish accent.

Cortes groaned, immediately jumping to the conclusion that the Sphere must have arrived. They had to change their plan before going to prevent unwanted surprises. "The Sphere, always the Sphere."

"It's not that – well actually, it's also that. One of the children passed away an hour ago. We did our very best but he didn't make it." It wasn't very leader-like, but Martinez had tears in his eyes. He was one of the most compassionate people that Cortes knew. Though it wasn't crazy that this situation brought Martinez to tears. A few years ago his only child had died in a shooting, leaving his wife so badly wounded that she could never become pregnant again. Martinez, who grew up in a large family, was devastated to see his dreams of having a 'full' house to come home to shattered. His family meant the world to him.

The crew members in the controlling room were completely oblivious to the news that Cortes had just heard and so when he said "reverse the engines, we're going home" his crew members groaned. This wasn't the place or time to tell them, he'd wait till they were back.

* * *

**Mila's house**

_Skyland is in uproar by the lack of information given by the Sphere. Sources claim that the Sphere is trying to cover up their tracks after destroying their own academy. It's not sure yet why the Sphere would do –_

Lena was lying in her bed, the blue screen set to one of the neutral channels. There weren't many neutral channels left and most of them solely screened centuries old shows that once played on "TV's" but this channel was one of the few that actually reported somewhat decent news.

Mila entered the room and placed a kiss on Lena's forehead, giving her a popsicle to cool down. The heat had risen a lot in the past few hours, making it harder for Lena to breathe.

"Hey" Lena said, her voice raspy.

"What have you been up to?" Mila wiped a bit of sweat from her daughters face with a cold wet washcloth.

Lena gestured at the blue screen with her free hand. The ice cold popsicle didn't help much but it was a nice change from the heat. "They're saying that the Sphere isn't releasing any information because they did it themselves."

_It has just been confirmed that the explosion has resulted in yet another death. The identity of the young child is still unknown but Fuerte Soltera's captain did say that it's a young boy believed to be between the age of ten and twelve. The sudden death comes as a shock to the Spanish captain who swears by his professional medical team. _

Mila looked in awe at the screen, not sure what to say. She didn't have to think long about it because Lena suddenly started to sob. "Are you OK, Lena?"

Lena was inconsolable, dropping her popsicle as her body shook. Mila wasn't sure if Lena had met the young boy while being at the academy, in fact it would be odd if Lena knew who it was just by hearing the age. But this didn't stop Mila from comforting her daughter.

"I love you" she whispered to her daughter, "I love you and I'm here for you. Always."

* * *

**The lighthouse**

"What do you mean, 'I'm not allowed to visit Lena'?" Cheng ranted, mad at his old friend. Lena and Cheng had been through a lot together and it didn't make sense that Cheng wasn't allowed to visit her at all.

"She's very weak, Cheng. She needs some time to rest." The Vector tried to reason with him but he didn't listen. Sometimes Cheng's intelligence worked like a blockade: he always knew all the possible outcomes. And unfortunately for him, when things didn't go as planned, he always assumed the worst possible one.

"I'm her best friend. I was there, I was also hurt!" Cheng stormed down the stairs.

"Cheng you're being unreasonable." The Vector shouted but it was too late, Cheng was already gone.

Cheng was furious: why was he allowed to come with on the most dangerous missions and was even deemed trusted enough to hack into the Sphere's computers but not allowed to see his injured friend? Surely, if he was mature enough to participate in the missions, he was mature enough to see Lena. Out of anger he kicked a stone and muttered "to hell with you all."

There was only one place right now where he could go to clear his mind and where he was treated as an equal: his grandfathers lab. He had to be strategic, it was in the heart of the Sphere's territory. But if he did it right, he'd be there within three days.

When he got home he grabbed his green bag, threw in his pillow, toothbrush and some clothes and headed to the haven. All he had to do is find someone to fly him.

It wasn't as easy to find someone who'd fly a child as Cheng had imagined. Some people had literally laughed at him. So when he couldn't find anyone, he took matters in his own hands and decided to steal a mosquito.

He didn't get far, before he could even take off Dahlia opened the mosquito and said "going somewhere?" Cheng smiled awkwardly at her. Dahlia knew him too well, which wasn't odd considering she was like a sister to him. Which was exactly why he confided in her. He told her everything: from feeling guilty about what happened to Lena to thinking that the Vector and Mila blame him. It was a never ending circle of guilt and blame and the fact that Cortes was extremely uncommunicative at the moment didn't help at all.

"Cheng, no one blames you for anything. It hasn't even crossed our minds to think that. You two are young, irresponsible. We knew the risks when we let you go there, yet we accepted it. It's a part of the life style we have: sometimes we're overprotective and sometimes we offer you too much freedom." Dahlia smiled and embraced him, making sure he knew that her words were heart-felt.

"I haven't seen her in days, I feel awful. I don't even know what's going on." Cheng confessed, his face sad. Perhaps Cortes' fear had already come true. Maybe Cheng already suffered from mild PTSS. "I don't know if it's Mila and the Vector from preventing me from seeing her or perhaps it's even her refusing to see me. I feel so secluded. I thought we were one big family, but I guess not."

"And that's why you wanted to run off? Cheng, that's a little bit selfish. We're a family and sometimes a family faces struggles, but we must face them together. And I know that to you it doesn't feel like we're all in it together, but trust me: we are."

"Am I childish?"

"Yes, but you're a child. It's OK to be childish, even adults are it from time to time. And trust me, once you're an adult, you look forward to moments like these. Don't grow up too fast." Dahlia winked at him and Cheng smiled back at her. She got up and offered him her hand. "Come, let's check if we may see Lena."

When they arrived at Mila's house, Mila was sitting outside, her face expressionless.

Dahlia tried to shelter Cheng from the sight but he peeked, refusing to miss any information that had to do with his best friend.

"She suddenly couldn't breathe at all" Mila whimpered, a tear running down her cheek. "Dita and Cortes are inside with her." Mila's voice was soft, it was almost like she whispered it. But Cheng could hear it well enough and he pushed Dahlia's arm aside so he could sit next to Mila to comfort her.

After a few minutes in silence, Cortes and Dita came outside. Cortes' face was pale and without saying a word, he walked away.

Mila looked up, "Dita?" she asked. "Dita, how is she?"

* * *

**Authors note:**  
Good news! The story lines for chapters 5, 6 and 7 are finished (and I'm really excited about it)! It's a matter of time (and hard work) till I'm done writing them and of course... publishing! Yay!

Don't you just hate it when a chapter ends in a cliff hanger?

If you follow this story, you might have noticed that you've just received a notification about once again... "Ch5" (while it's actually chapter 4). This is correct. After posting it last night, I couldn't sleep at all! I feared that if I didn't change it I would end up with a writers block. So I've spend the entire day rewriting this chapter. And boy, did I rewrite! It's nothing (literally, 100%) like the original one. I'm considering posting deleted chapters in a new fic in the future (once this story is done) for those who enjoy reading it. I already know the end of this story (it will be a total of 22 chapters) but I also already know the next one! So if you think I'm updating a bit fast at the moment... Don't worry, you'll have enough to read.

Title explanation: Exanimate means that something is "spiritless, not or no longer alive". The next chapter (which will be posted really soon) is called "inanimate", which is basically the same thing but its meaning is described as "lifeless".

_A bit of Scottish in this chapter, taken from websites with Scottish slangs. Tried to keep Cortes true to his nature... Aaah!_  
_"Shut your geggs" – Everyone shut up_  
_"Wee scunners" – Whiners_  
_"You're off your heads" – You're all crazy_


	6. Chapter 5: Inanimate

**Chapter 5: Inanimate**

**Puerto Angel's tavern  
**"There he is" one of the pirates shushed the other.

Mahad raised an eyebrow and stared at them for a second before folding his arms and saying "You can say it straight to my face."

All though both of them were tough looking men and seemed to be at least thrice Mahad's age, they didn't speak. Instead, they looked away and pretended like nothing had happened. Mahad eyed the pirates for a second before turning around and making his way to an empty seat. He didn't trust the two pirates at all and he was certain that they were hiding something. In fact, he was certain that they weren't the only one who were 'in' on a secret. For a few days straight people had been secretive around Mahad: discussing something when he wasn't near and pretending nothing interesting was going on when he came into hearing range.

Mahad didn't feel at ease with sitting down, he had to – finally – know what was going on. So when he was certain that the two pirates didn't notice it he sneaked towards them, casually leaning against a fully occupied table.

"No one has even heard from her ever since it happened" said the grey haired one of the two pirates.

The other one, who was slightly younger and had brown hair, nodded before adding "defiantly guilty, no doubt about it."

"Even the Tempête disappeared from the radar. The last known coordinates are within a 30 kilometres radius of the Guardian Academy." The grey haired pirate signed the barista for a refill of his bidon and sighed, leaning on his left arm and looking at his mate. "And then there's that Farrell kid."

"I don't doubt he's in it as well. He's just like his father, dying to get some acknowledgement and will go to any lengths to get what he wants."

The grey haired pirate shook his head, "no, she left him in the dark. Cortes had the Vector keep an eye on his radio usage. He's been desperate to reach her but she ignores him."

"She probably thinks he knows about her bomb in his engine" the two pirates laughed at the apparent inside joke.

"What do you mean?" Mahad's curiosity got the best of him.

Mahad's sudden voice startled the pirates, but it didn't stop them from responding. The brown haired pirate said: "Are you deaf? Everyone knows it thanks to your dearest mum. Now piss off, lad. It's our only day off."

"I asked you something" Mahad grabbed the pirates' shoulders and forcefully turned them around.

"What are you going to do about it? Cry about it to your non-responsive bomber girlfriend?" The grey haired pirate was a lot taller than Mahad. All though he was well aware that the man was capable of smashing his skull, and if the rumours were true: he wouldn't have any trouble sleeping at night if he chose to do so, Mahad still attempted to push the man over the edge by repeating his earlier statement.

The pirate smiled back at him, exposing his poor dental care. "I'm not afraid of you, kid. Nor am I afraid of your girlfriend slash murderer."

"What did you just say?" Mahad asked him, his voice hostile.

"It's time you knew the truth, Farrell. Murderer" the man grinned, "say it. Murderer."

Mahad's body trembled. Fury unlocking within him, opening the gates to his personal Hell. "Take it back" he demanded, his voice steady and powerful.

The pirate paused for a second, recognizing his old friend's leaders quality. Mahad's voice was generally a pitch higher than his father, not as strict: not as demanding. But at this very moment, if the grey haired pirate had closed his eyes, he would've believed that it was Marcus Farrell threatening him. But it wasn't Marcus, it was his son. His immature and irresponsible son that somehow ended up lacking every positive quality that his father had, not counting flying.

People started to get up from their seat, ready to see the fight that today had to offer, both Mahad and the pirate ignored it. After a few seconds the pirate reiterated what he had previously said, dragging Mahad over the edge.

In his moment of absolute rage, Mahad couldn't think clear. He didn't think about the fight, he didn't think about his opponent and most of all: he didn't think about the consequences. He just couldn't care. This was his fight and his fight alone. So when he threw the first punch: it had felt liberating, as if all his problems shot from his fist straight into the pirates' face. No secrets, no worries, no regrets. Just several punches. Left, freedom. Right, temptation. Right once more, irritation.

People were cheering, no one was willing to stop the two men from fighting. The pirate was a lot older, wiser and stronger but Mahad still put up an impressive fight. Busting the man's left eye, hitting him on his cheek so hard that it left Mahad's right fist black and blue and punching him in the gut till the man had to tell him to stop.

Cortes threw Mahad on the ground, his roars of fury echoing through the filled tavern. "What is wrong with you?" he shouted. Everyone paused and stared, shocked that they hadn't noticed the captain walking in.

"Well, what's your answer?" Cortes questioned. In a pool full of disbelief, humiliation and raging with fury. How could the son of his late best friend behave like this? How could he no longer care about the consequences of his actions?

Mahad rubbed his right elbow to relieve the pain a bit and to release the tension. He wasn't sure what to answer. To the two nosey pirates, he had an answer ready: he didn't knew them too well and couldn't care less about their opinion. But Cortes was a different story. The captain had always looked out for his sister and him as if they were his own.

But did Cortes really saw them as his own? If he had cared, he wouldn't have blamed Mahad's girlfriend, right? Was that what she was? The girl he had been defending but hadn't answered any of his pleas?

_Stop. Don't think like that, it's what they want._ Mahad got up, steadied his pose and said "look at you. You sad, sad, lonely man. So insecure about yourself that you let your crew suffer from it. Have them point fingers at my girlfriend while for all you know she could be innocent. I despise you. Loathe you."

Cortes was flabbergasted. "You bampot" he quipped before grabbing Mahad at his collar and dragging him outside where Mila, the Vector and several other crew members were awaiting them.

The hostility flowed from the two men like water. But this was not the time or place to sort it out: they had to leave immediately.

"Mila, why don't you tell your son why it's important that he acts mature for once in his life so we can get going" Cortes gave Mahad a push into her direction.

"I'm immature? This is just great!" Mahad threw his hands in the air, "everyone points their finger at my girlfriend while no one has proof. Yet, here you guys are claiming I'm immature."

"Mahad, keep it down. People are watching us." The Vector shushed the young man.

Mahad laughed dramatically and shouted "let them. Hey everyone, there's zero proof that Iziel did it but let's blame her anyways! Let's pretend that Cortes wasn't too scared to help Lena and his very own son. Let's forget the fact that Iziel was the only one who had the best interest in our safety and putting our name out there."

"Mahad, you know that's not true. I have the best interest for you." Mila put her hands on his shoulders to show her support but he shook them off.

"Do you, mother? Do you? Because from what I've heard, you were the one who started the rumour of Iziel causing the explosion." Mahad eyed his mother, hoping that the rumours weren't true. But instead, she looked down in embarrassment. Mahad's jaw dropped, his legs felt heavy.

After a minute of silence, it was Cortes who finally spoke. "Your father would be ashamed of your actions."

The lack of solidarity hit Mahad like a sledgehammer, breaking down the last bit of imaginary wall that was left of what used to be the trust he had in the people around him."He's dead, isn't that what everyone has been saying? Dead. Just like you are. You're dead to me." When Mahad spoke, his voice was no longer angry. It was calm but unsteady.

"Mahad, how dare you." Mila's comment haunted Mahad's mind. How could his very own mother turn her back on him? Not see the trust he has in Iziel? Not see his point of view?

He shook his head out of disbelief and turned around.

"But it's your sister!" his mother shouted at him as he walked away. Mahad didn't care, _if it had been serious they would've involved him days ago_. At least, that's what he hoped.

"Unbelievable, normally he'd do anything for his sister." The Vector's eyes followed Mahad's back.

"It's Iziel, she's poison." Cortes scolded before summoning the others to come on board so they could finally leave.

* * *

**Lighthouse  
**The peace had not yet returned to the idyllic block so when on her quest for some peace and quiet, Dahlia had settled with the lighthouse. There were several men sitting across the room with books on their lap, fully focussed on what they were studying. It wasn't solely a place to enjoy the view of the archipelago or guide ships to safety, as off lately more and more people had discovered the gigantic library with the most amazing books that the Vector had collected over the past few decades.

It was this kind of peace and quiet that Dahlia needed to work on Puerto Angel's management. It was her who was deemed trusted enough by Cortes to be in charge of the block while he was off to Salamanca to provide Lena with the help she needed. Her clear-headed, calm and profound personality was perfect to lead the block, despite her young age.

Not everyone seemed to care about Dahlia needing some time to figure things out: several people had come to her with questions. She didn't mind per se, but some could've been answered by anyone who was able to think logically.

"_When is Cortes coming back?"_ A concerned citizen had asked but Dahlia didn't have an answer. He could be back the same night or decide to stay and then it could take at least a week.

"_The water is running out!_" – We'll ration.

"_But even when we ration, it might run out before Cortes is back._" – Harder to fix, but to Dahlia's relief January had comforted her by saying she knew enough captains who could help out.

It hadn't been an easy day, but when was it ever for a pirate who was highly wanted by the Sphere? Dahlia was overworked and sleep deprived, so when the two blabbermouth pirates walked in she sighed.

"What do you want Pyrius?" Dahlia despised the two of them. Both were nearing their sixties but somehow were stuck believing that they're eighteen: young and capable of anything. Not to forget to mention that they felt the need to remind everyone how they had fought along Marcus Farrell and were in fact 'the original rebellion'.

"Can't you see Xenon's eye?" Pyrius pointed at the pirate that had gotten beaten up by Mahad earlier.

"I'm well aware of your brawl" Dahlia stood up and folded her arms in an attempt to look more dignitary, but the height difference still made her feel like a silly young girl.

"The Farrell kid lost his mind and Cortes is too busy sucking it up to him." Xenon tried to empathize on his black eye but Dahlia didn't pay attention to his efforts.

"Cortes is too soft with him, afraid he'll hurt the feelings of Marcus' precious son. Both of them should get smacked in the face by reality" Pyrius added to Xenon's statement.

"What do you expect me to do? Just drop it already" Dahlia was too tired to fight and in all honesty, it wasn't her fault. Mahad's behaviour had been annoying for a while now, even she couldn't stand his antics. But was she supposed to turn her back on someone who had been her friend for so long? One day, or at least that's what she hoped, he'd snap out of it and that's when he'd need her.

"Excuse me?" Xenon raised his voice, disturbing the men who were studying in the back. A few of them gazed, their face glowering. "He busted my face and hit me in the gut till I started coughing blood. Are you seriously picking his side?"

"I'm not picking any –"

"We could've known" Pyrius interrupted her, "everyone knows you've had a crush on him since day one. This is exactly why women can't lead anything, they always let their emotions –" he paused for a second before putting his fingers in the air and literally quoting "guide the way".

Dahlia rolled her eyes. All though she was furious she tried to stay calm. "Listen, you rat –" her effort of staying calm had no use and it was one of the rare times that she let her offensive part get the better of her. "I'm not letting any emotions 'guide the way'. If anything, I'm pissed with Mahad for not showing more concern when it comes to his sisters well-being. But I also know that this isn't the Mahad that I've known not only in the past year, but also the one I've known when we were both little. This is a phase, he's in Iziel's claws and maybe you should try helping him escape instead of kicking him against the curb." Dahlia took her attention from Pyrius to Xenon and said "and you, Xenon" she shook her head and laughed. "You got beaten up by your old mate's kid. Get over it."

Xenon got furious and started to threaten the young blond pirate: "I'll make sure you'll never lead this block, or any other block for the matter, again! You're a filthy backstabber who deserves nothing but Hell."

"Gentlemen, let's not get hasty with drawing conclusions, shall we?" One of the pirates in the back stepped in. Dahlia had never worked with him personally, but did knew him. It was Chad, a member of one of the older teams. Highly experienced, well trained and most of all: extremely loyal. Formerly a mosquito flyer but he had resigned from flying several years ago so he could help Puerto Angel's citizens that worked on the land.

It was his wise input that the pirates needed to hear at this very moment. They trusted him fully.

"I know everything appears to be dodgy at the moment. And I agree to some extent that it's unclear, but it's not Dahlia's fault. Whether she agrees or disagrees with Mahad's actions off lately, she can't pick a side. She's only temporarily leading Puerto Angel and wasn't even in charge when the fight occurred, nor was she anywhere near the location of where it happened." Chad grinned at the two men and for some reason they both said "Humph!" before turning around and storming out of the lighthouse.

"I can't express how thankful I am but... but thank you." Dahlia turned around to look at Chad. He was a painfully taller than her, but many were.

He smiled back at her and said "stressful day? Let me get you something to drink." Without waiting for a response he made his way towards the tavern, leaving Dahlia in awe.

* * *

**Salamanca's Care Centre  
**"I feel like there's a connection missing." Mila and the Vector were sitting on the floor outside Lena's room, waiting for the doctors to bring them – hopefully good – news. The rest of the crew had decided to volunteer where needed to give Mila some space.

"I recall sitting like this with you before, many years ago. Do you remember it, Mila?" He put his hand on hers and pinched it reassuringly. She nodded and wiped away a tear. "You were so upset when they took Mahad away from you that you spend the entire night outside his room, pondering if there would ever be a normal connection between the two of you because he hadn't spend his first few hours in your arms."

"Cortes and you were there, stayed up all night to reassure me it would be okay."

"Dahlia clinging to your leg and then falling asleep while standing against one of the chairs." The two of them laughed at the memory.

"I honestly couldn't remember that. I was so fixated on Mahad's well-being that the rest didn't even matter to me." Mila remembered, staring at the wall. This place didn't look that much like the one she was in eighteen years ago, but it did help her recall everything.

"Did you ever forgive Marcus for not being there?"

"No" she looked down, "no, I did not. Every time we had a fight I brought it up."

"Don't beat yourself up over it, he spend the first two years ranting about Mahad possibly being Oslo's son. It wasn't until everyone complimented him on how much Mahad looked like him that he realized it was in fact his." Mila shivered at the thought when the Vector said it. It was a strange argument that her husband and she used to have. No matter how often she reminded him that nothing had ever happened between Oslo and her: he wouldn't drop it. It was an insecurity of his that she recognized in Mahad.

"Any news yet?" Cortes asked as he sat down next to Mila's other side.

She shook her head and added "nope".

"Do you recall the three of us sitting like this many years ago?" Cortes wiped some sweat of his forehead with his sleeve.

"We just spoke about it" Mila smiled at the captain then grabbed his and the Vector's hands to complete the old picture that the three of them had on their minds.

"Have I failed?" The two men looked at Mila questioningly. "As a parent, I mean."

The two men didn't answer it. Both of them had their own opinion of what happened over the past few years. There were things that made them furious and things which they completely understood. It wasn't necessary to ruin a friendship that they recently got back by looking at the past.

"I took my children away from their destiny. From their father's legacy. And for what? To keep them safe?" She sighed. "It was useless, wasn't it? I left everything behind so they could have a peaceful life. They ended up resenting the Sphere and rebelling against them before they even knew that their parents were rebels. And then I... I sent them off. I didn't come with them while I knew that once they found you, they'd stick around and join. And you guys had to go through all that trouble just to get me out of there."

"Hold on. Mila, even if you were locked away in the most unknown cell in some remote location, we'd do anything to set you free. I don't care what happened in the past. You know me, I don't need to know your past to look at the future." Cortes reassured her and hinted for the Vector to do the same.

"There have been times when I wondered why you didn't return. I have to admit, I thought that you leaving for Babylonia was a phase." The Vector's mouth was a straight line. He felt uncomfortable. He didn't want to pin any blame on her but he couldn't help but feel a bit of resentment.

"You knew where she was? Even when Dahlia cried non-stop about the disappearance of her little friend and mother-figure you still didn't tell? How could you?" Cortes looked at the Vector in disbelief but dropped the subject when he saw Mila's face ridden with guilt. Sometimes not looking at the past is the hardest thing you can do.

"Perhaps it was a bit selfish to keep Lena close to you when she really needed proper medical care." The Vector said and Mila knew he was right.

They sat a moment in silence before Cortes' loud walkie-talkie disturbed the quiet hallways of Salamanca's Care centre. He quickly went into the men's room.

Mila and the Vector didn't speak. It was an uncomfortable and seemingly long-lasting silence until the captain came back and sat down in his old spot.

"Martinez wishes you the best, Mila. His thoughts are with you." Cortes didn't look at her when he said it. His eyes fixated on the wall across of them. "He's taking the Fuerte Soltera to the old Guardian Academy tomorrow. Everyone voted in favour, said they owe it to the little boy who lost his life under their care. Perhaps they'll be able to find records that'll lead to his parents."

Neither the Vector and Mila were responsive. No trip to the Guardian Academy meant no trip down a very painful memory lane. For once they were happy that they had no distractions.

* * *

_**Author notes:**_  
_You might have noticed the new image (if not, you did now), it's a temporary version of the cover I'm working on. Yep, it's Iziel! The background is temporary, it looked a bit odd when it was completely white. Hope you like it, once it's done I'll link you guys the full version. Additionally: added the link of the solar-brigg on my profile. Totally forgot to share it!_

_It took me a bit longer to write this chapter but I think that the result has paid off! The next few chapters might have a slight delay, have had fever 'attacks' (not really an attack but it just comes randomly and then goes down again) for a few days now and have several infections going on. Including my fingers, aargh. Anyhow, I'll still be writing but just a bit slower._

_PS. If you'd like to read more Skyland Fan Fiction, check "The Lady of Light" written by hyperpsychomaniac. It's a nice change from this story (it's also very well written!)_

_I already explained the chapter title the last time so instead I'll give you guys the chapter title of the next one: Censure (definition: to express severe disapproval) Eek!_


	7. Chapter 6: Censure

**Chapter 6: Censure**

**Fuerte Soltera**

"We're reaching the old Guardian Academy in 20 minutes, captain." Martinez' highest honoured crew member, Gabriel, assuredly declared.

The Fuerte Soltera was a lot like the Saint Nazaire in innumerable ways. They were both battle ships, could painstakingly haul smaller vessels and were even build around the same year. Though, the design as well as the way it functioned was completely different. Unlike the steel-blue with red exterior that the Saint Nazaire sported, the Fuerte Soltera distinctly had once been black with bright orange. However, the outside had decayed, rust had ruined most of the black painting. Luckily it still did its job right.

The Saint Nazaire was known for being able to carry up to 8 mosquitoes, Martinez' ship could only carry two secondary vessels. Albeit slightly bigger – and more powerful – ones. The Ayuda and Auxilium had proved their worth by not only defending their 'mother'-ship, they also had transported many patients safely through the worst imaginable storms. They did exactly what their names suggested: provide aid.

"The radio shows a lot of activity when it comes to the Sphere. Stay alert and warn Mansbach to keep the Ayuda and Auxilium ready." The captain's voice sounded courageous, ready to fight. Ready to make the Sphere pay for the gruesome eternal slumber of the little boy. Of course, even he had his doubts about Iziel. But he found it hard to believe that a pirate would kill innocents just to prove her point.

"Mansbach, do you read me?" Gabriel's voice interrupted the captain's thoughts. After a minute there still wasn't a response. "Christian, I repeat: do you read me?"

Finally there was a response. Mansbach was furiously ranting at Gabriel for calling him with his first name. It was an odd thing about him: he was named after his father and had never seen himself as "Christian" or, according to him, even worse: "Christian Junior". The strong-willing and foul-mouthed pirate had insisted on being called Mansbach since day one. And Gabriel, being the joker that he is, loved to tease the German-born with it.

Martinez tuned out of the conversation between the two men and thought about what he fought for instead. The little boy kept appearing in his mind. He had been so optimistic about everything, despite being quite young. Unfortunately for him, he had suffered from amnesia and had no clue who he was or where he came from.

It frustrated Martinez that no one had reported such a magnanimous being as missing. If his parents weren't alive, surely other family members would remember him? Or perhaps old neighbours of where he used to live. Or even the Sphere! But no one had seemed to give a damn about this poor child.

How can you be born into a world and then end up being forgotten about? A young sejin with a promising future, if he hadn't been in the hands of the Sphere, of course. It was impossible that no one in whole of Skyland had loved him, especially considering Martinez had grown fond of him in a matter of minutes.

The Fuerte Soltera quaked, smashing a stunned Martinez against the wall. Pain overcame the captain, his elbow aching. But he wasn't ready to give up. The fight had just started.

"We're under attack. Shield one is down." Gabriel frantically scanned his controlling system.

Martinez repositioned himself and shouted "always that shield!"

"What do you want us to do, captain?" A crew member in the back yelled.

"Release the Ayuda and Auxilium and shoot them out of the sky. Gabriel, full speed towards the academy. Shoot any patroller that's on your path!" Martinez used all the power within him to steer his ship 28 degrees starboard. The patrollers continuously attempting to prevent him from doing so. They wanted to lock him in his place and shoot him to pieces.

The Ayuda released, fighting the patrollers further ahead, while the Auxilium snuck out and focussed on destroying the patrollers that were closer. The battle was infuriating and tiring, for every patroller they shot: two seemed to provide a counter attack.

"They must really want to protect something!" The captain shouted. "Gabriel, quick, shoot that one down!" Gabriel released all of the Fuerte Soltera's first power cell on a patroller that was tailing the Auxilium.

But while the Auxilium got away, the Ayuda got the full blow of an entire armada. "The Ayuda is in trouble, shoot the patroller down!" Martinez demanded to his crew member.

"I can't, I just released the entire first cell on it! The ship has to readjust to use the second one." Gabriel answered in shame. By helping the Auxilium, he risked the Ayuda's faith. Exactly what the Sphere had hoped they would do.

Martinez' eyes became wide, "no!" he fumed. But shouting wouldn't help the ship. The Ayuda's left engine sustained more hits than it could deal with and caught fire, resulting in the ship to lose its grip on gravity.

The captain felt his legs becoming heavy. _Adjust_. _But how_? Martinez' ship was a beast. Strong, but not undefeatable. Fortunately the captain didn't have to bother with the Ayuda, it was Mansbach decision to make. And he decided to turn of the engines entirely, descent and have the Fuerte Soltera unload its water reservoir on it.

Martinez activated his radio screen and called for Puerto Angel.

"Cheng! We're near the Guardian Academy and we're under heavy attack. Do you guys have back-up ready? I don't want to disturb your father." Martinez' could barely keep his body steady. The constant attacks overpowered him at every front. Several crew members were running around, heading towards their destined position to provide assistance.

"Back-up? I'm not sure." Cheng glanced at Dahlia. Painful memories poisoned his mind.

"We've got several ships here ready to back you up. We can head to your location but it will take several hours." Dahlia gave Cheng a reassuring look. She had known him ever since he was little, it was almost like he was her younger brother. She knew him very well: he was worried.

"Maybe now is the time to ask January for a favour. She said she knew several captains closer to the area." Chad looked up at the screen, flinching every now and then when Martinez had to sustain another hit.

Dahlia looked at Chad, was quiet for a few seconds before concluding that Chad was right. "I'll contact her right-away." She then turned around to face the screen and said: "Expect back-up within 30 minutes, Puerto Angel out." Dahlia turned off the connection between the vessel and the block.

"Using the second-based energy facet to re-generate shield one's power. Shield two is soar but shield three is still unused. Do you want me to turn it on, captain?" Gabriel said.

Martinez shook his head, "no. Let's hope the Auxilium can hold them off a bit longer. Let them know that back-up is on the way."

"Yes, sir." Gabriel's murmuring to his radio became distant as the captain focused on safely flying his ship above the Ayuda so he could release the water they carried, occasionally hitting a patroller when he had the chance.

"All inside? The sudden water could kill you." The captain radioed his crew out of safety measures.

"Affirmative." It sounded back.

Gabriel opened the hatches while Mansbach released the water. The sudden release of weight caused the Fuerte Soltera to rise while the Ayuda trundled and shook. The force was stronger than the Ayuda could sustain and it drilled right through the electric storage. The high-voltage containing water spread, splashing against several patrollers and exploding their engines. The smaller vessels weren't build to sustain this much. Luckily enough, the Ayuda's engines weren't on and thus weren't affected by the electricity.

"Power cell two activated, cell one is re-generating." Gabriel whispered, still amazed by the power of the Ayuda's electric storage.

Martinez nodded, "good. Let Mansbach know that the Ayuda has to return so he can fix it. The Auxilium will have to fight off the remaining patrollers. I want to be there within fifteen minutes."

"Captain." Gabriel said as a sign that he understood his assignment.

* * *

**Salamanca's Care Centre  
**The beeps broke the silence as Mila, Cortes and the Vector entered the small hospital room. Two days of waiting in agony had finally paid off.

"Lena, it's good to see you awake. I've been worried sick about you. We all have." Mila sat down next to Lena's bed while the captain and self-claimed scientist took their spot at the corner of the room.

The young pirate smiled back at her mother, already looking a lot more lively. Her skin wasn't as pale anymore and the blue under her eyes was mostly gone.

"Good thing the explosion didn't break my ribs. Word goes that I'm getting a different cast tomorrow so I can walk." Lena chirped, her face glowing with excitement. "The fracture healed very well."

"You're very lucky that it was a fibular fracture. We were afraid that your femur or tibia had been scattered." Lena giggled when she heard the Vector speak. She had missed his scientific knowledge. In many ways he was like a book: when you needed the answer, he had it. But at the same time, he wasn't an open book. His past was dodgy.

"The wound sure made it look that way." Cortes elaborated.

Mila nodded and looked at her daughter, moving Lena's hair out of her face. "To see you lying like that. Wounded. Battered," Mila flinched at the word, "it broke my heart. It was exactly the reason why I didn't want you to grow up in Puerto Angel. I wanted you to have a different life."

"But I don't want a different life. I fight for a better world. Maybe earth will never return, maybe we're doomed to live in what is known as Skyland for eternity. But we'll adjust, you know that. I don't want house, bells and bliss... Pretending everything is all right, stuck in a fantasy world. I want this. I've always wanted this."

"But Lena –"

"No, mother. You meant well but this is my life and my choice. I'm nearly fourteen-years-old and sure, it's not that old yet, but I'm fully capable of making decisions of my own."

Mila sighed, "where did time go?"

"It was in the hands of the Sphere."

Mila tried not to think back at her time in Kharzem prison and luckily for her the doctor entered the room.

"How's my favourite patient doing?" The doctor took her place next to the bed. When the sun broke through the clouds her olive skin tone was more prominently revealed, her moss green eyes glistened and her lips curled up.

Lena was ecstatic, "I'm great" she insisted. Mila laughed and gestured her daughter to tone it down.

"That's great. You scared us."

"So I've heard!"

"Well, I'm happy to say that the tests also say that you're doing a great deal better. The CRP came back a lot lower than expected and it should be good now."

"So it won't happen again?" Mila pinched her daughter's hand while looking at the doctor.

"No, ma'am. It was a combination of an allergic reaction to calendula tea and a superficial skin infection. We've given her antibiotics and she's responding very well to it. She should be up and walking on her new cast by the end of the day and will be able to be released tomorrow. Her leg will hurt for a while but I can tell that it won't stop her."

Lena clapped her hands with happiness.

The doctor wished the pirates well and then left the room, heading to her next patient.

"Why isn't Mahad here? I've only seen him once or twice since the explosion." Lena let go of her mother's hand and grabbed her cup, patiently taking sips while waiting for an explanation.

After a minute Cortes got up and said: "I'll radio the others to tell them you'll be coming home tomorrow."

"Sit down" Lena demanded, "now." Cortes obediently sat down, knowing he couldn't avoid the conversation this time.

"What are you holding from me?"

No response.

"Spill it!"

Yet again, no response.

Lena gritted her teeth from frustration, holding herself back from shouting at everyone.

"We suspect that Iziel is the one that caused the explosion." Lena's eyes narrowed when her mother said it.

"And that she used your brother to do so" the Vector added.

"No, that can't be. That's not true." Lena shook her head furiously, spilling some water while her hands shook. "Are you all insane? We're talking about Mahad."

"Lena, your brother has changed a lot."

"No, Vector. Just no. He'd never do that. He's my brother."

Mila put her finger under Lena's chin but Lena pushed it away, refusing to look at her mother. "Lena, we're not claiming that it's Mahad's fault. We think she used him as a pawn."

"And what does Mahad think of your accusations?" After a minute of silence Lena added: "well?"

None of the pirates were willing to answer, shifting their weight uncomfortably and looking away in order to avoid the question.

"He thinks she's innocent, doesn't he? Yet you all still work against him, claiming she did. Do you even have any proof?"

"Salamanca's forces are on their way to gather evidence right now." Cortes admitted in shame, his head tilting low. It wasn't the first time that he had jumped to a conclusion, but as a rebel leader he had no choice: if someone was a potential threat, he had to act upon it.

"Let me get this right: you accused your son's girlfriend of killing many people, including young children, without having any proof? No wonder Mahad isn't here. I bet he's ridden with feelings of guilt because of you!" Lena raised her voice and pushed Mila of the bed.

"Go, I don't want to see you" she said with a hostile voice. She folded her arms and looked away, unable to stand seeing her own mother's face. Not here, not now. She needed some time alone.

* * *

**Novelty **

Loud footsteps thudded on the metal flooring, the commander gazed at his young colonel. It was one of her final tests before she'd be, if it were the case, promoted to brigadier. She was accompanied by someone her age but double the experience.

"Could you stop prancing around? I'm already highly annoyed by the heat, don't add you up to it." Commander Gerik walked over to the team of solar-brigs that were flying his ship and studied his surroundings.

"Just calm down, Alice. It's a simple mission." Laila put her arm around Alice's shoulder and smiled at her. Alice had excelled in every aspect after being invited back into the main-programme by Laila. Laila's father had, being the hypocritical and overly-sensitive member of the G.O. that he is, been against her plan. But Laila had ignored his request, knowing for certain that Diwan had misjudged the poor girl.

"The Sphere doesn't have the greatest trust in me anymore since the Diwan fiasco."

"Diwan was highly incapable of doing her own job right, let stand judging you on how you did yours."

Alice smiled back at Laila before heading off to her own position. She knew she'd make an excellent brigadier and that she'd be able to spread her point of view on everything related to the Sphere even more once she'd be promoted. She was still convinced that the words that the young male pirate once had said to her were true. Especially after she heard about his mother's outbreak from Kharzem. She hadn't been able to convince anyone of it yet, considering she was 'banned' from doing anything, but Laila had been a listening ear despite being a daughter from a member of the G.O.

"What temperature is it?" the commander asked in a stern voice.

"37 degrees, commander Gerik."

"97 degrees in Fahrenheit, commander." Laila corrected Alice.

"Unbelievable. I don't understand how these outskirt blocks do it. It must be well over a 110 degrees out there." Alice wasn't sure whether he liked or disliked the outskirt blocks. Considering he was a commander, he most likely wanted control over them. Though, they were far away and the heat over there took their toll on the functionality of both the human and robotic brigadiers. In some ways the Sphere was glad that those people were self-providing.

"Several patrollers have been shot down. Ship identified as the Fuerte Soltera, leading captain identified as Martinez Castillo, suspected crew amount is 34."

Commander Gerik patted the solar-brig on the shoulder and joked "I knew you aren't as useless as the old brigs."

"What do you think we should do, Alice?"

Laila's question startled Alice a bit but she quickly adjusted. "We should stay on course. The pirates don't know that we have their ship on board, they're heading for the academy, not us."

The commander nodded his head with approval and said: "excellent choice. Stay on course, brigadier."

"Affirmative."

Only a minute later the solar-brig suddenly reported pirates boarding the ship.

"What do you mean pirates are boarding the ship? We're heavily guarded!"

"They're already on board, commander." The carefree solar-brig kept on flying, fully focussed on where he was going.

"What?!" the commander shouted, "you useless piece of metal scrap!"

"This is your shot, are you ready?" It wasn't much of a question because before Alice could answer, Laila was already on her way towards the intruders with an army of solar-brigs.

Alice ignored the commander's scolding and vicious attacks at the solar-brig and made her way towards Laila, looking over her shoulder every now and then in anxiety that the pirates were there. She wasn't afraid of pirates in general, the ones she had met had all been friendly to her, but she was a Sphere employee on a heavily guarded Sphere ship: no doubt that the pirates wouldn't hesitate to attack.

"They're port, at the transportation cells." Laila said out of breath, skulking to the location.

"This might not be the best time to say this, but you're ought to work on your condition."

"Already bossing me around like a brigadier? You learn quick." Laila smiled at her student.

The closer they got to the transportation cells, the more anxious Alice got. A part of her wished that the male pirate that had changed her mindset would be there, the other part of her wished he was long-gone. Afraid that if he'd see her on a ship like this, he'd doubt her loyalty. Not that she was fairly loyal to the pirates to begin with. There were things she most certainly agreed with, but there were also aspects of the Sphere that were quite decent. Helping people move forwards to the future instead of dwelling on the past was certainly one of them.

Laila, Alice and their army of solar-brigs came to a sudden halt when they came eye-to-eye with the pirates much sooner than expected. Laila gulped, this wasn't a good location at all: it was right next to the obtained ship.

A bunch of pirates immediately aimed their guns while the solar-brigs readied theirs.

"What are you doing here?" Laila shouted, breathing in and out slowly and transforming the light in the room into sejin energy. It felt empowering, she knew the pirates would stand no chance against her.

"¡Para!" Martinez shouted at the top of his lungs, "everyone! Weapons down! We can solve this like civilized people."

Alice demanded the solar-brigs to waver but Laila refused to put her arms down.

"Ladies, I know you're trained to attack us and to defend yourself. But the ship we're after belongs to a pirate. While the Sphere wants it for their own benefits such as getting the route to our home, we only want it to clear up a very hazy situation. The fault is on our side, we're aware of that. But we want to see the proof and present it to our people."

"We don't have the ship." Laila said, her voice poised.

"We've come in peace, we just want to assure that our homes are safe."

"We don't have the ship." Laila repeated.

"We know you do, it's registered to our radar. We don't want to harm you, we just want the ship so we can investigate what happened." Gabriel spoke for the first time.

"I'm getting tired of repeating myself."

"Fine, I'll get it myself then." Gabriel made his way to the Novelty's docking station.

"Over my dead body" Laila let the energy flow through her body, building up in her chest like the ocean's tides and then directed it at Gabriel.

Martinez shot at her with his laser gun but she dodged it cleverly, running towards the doors that led to the pirates' ship. "Take care of the brigs" he shouted at his crew while he went after Laila.

Just when Laila was ready to take Gabriel down, Alice pinned her to the ground.

"You can't!" Alice exclaimed, "they're protecting their homes! We can't take that away from them. Think about it Laila, please."

Martinez took his opportunity and ran with his crew towards the ship.

"What's going on down here?" The commander's approaching voice startled the assembly.

"It's time to beat it" Gabriel gulped.

"Get off me." Laila pushed Alice off and they both got up, adjusting their clothes to look decent for their commander.

"Think about it."

"Shut up, Alice."

"The Sphere solely wants it to force more sejins into joining them. All the pirates want is to live in peace without having someone take their water away." Alice pleaded, her face expressed her fear. If the commander would see the pirates, he'd take them out. Even if it would cost him his own life.

"Stop it."

"Imagine how hot it's over there. They don't have any water. All the victims, children, elderly, pregnant women, wounded men."

Laila bit her lip, then sighed and murmured "fine."

Alice was ecstatic when Laila entered her code to release the ship, "go, quickly before the commander is here."

"¡Gracias!" Martinez shouted as Mansbach flew the Auxilium into the Novelty, picked up the pirates and flew away with Mahad's exploded ship linked to his.

"Where's the ship?" the commander asked when he finally reached the location.

"We came here and it was just gone."

"That's right, commander. Gone, just like that." Alice confirmed Laila's statement.

* * *

**Puerto Angel's haven**

"Mahad!" Lena limbed off the Saint Nazaire and hurried towards her brother.

"Squirt!" Mahad embraced her and gave her a kiss on her forehead, "I've missed you so much. It's good to see you walk."

"Barely, but it's still faster than you." She smiled at him, happy that he was there despite the ongoing fight between him and the others.

"Ha, ha. Very funny. We'll see how fast you are when you're fully healed."

"It won't be long, the Vector's going to teach me mother's old tricks so I can use my own energy to heal myself."

"You can heal yourself?"

"It's not healing per se," the Vector interrupted, "it's simply using your own energy to help your body sustain pain. Even humans can learn it! Though, only sejins can use their energy to help speed up the natural healing process."

"Mahad, can I have a word with you?" Cortes approached them, determined to keep his promise to Lena.

Mahad shook his head, "I have nothing to say to you."

"But I do. I was quick to judge. I shouldn't have created a wedge between you and your sister. I made you feel unwelcome in your own home and unwanted at your sister's sick bed and I'm truly sorry for that. But I'm the captain, I need to fight for my people."

"It doesn't give you the right to blame Iziel for everything while you're not even certain." Mahad got irritated, certain that he'd leave the scene if Cortes annoyed him more. He wanted to be there for Lena, especially when she had called him yesterday to tell him she believed his side of the story, but he couldn't stand being judged or looked at. Not this way, at least.

"Mahad, you have to understand what it's like to be a rebel leader. She had already said she'd do it, don't you think it makes sense that we suspect her? Martinez just radioed, he's got your ship and it will provide us with the evidence we need."

"And how can you be so certain that Martinez didn't mess with it? I'm sure he's dying to blame the guilt on her, considering she has a straight-forward attitude unlike his pathetic game of 'wait-and-see'."

Cortes was quiet for a minute. It was most certainly true that of all the pirates, Iziel was the one who was never too tired to fight. She was the one who had fought the Sphere at the Val di Fessa blocks after they had showed interest in becoming pirate blocks while Martinez had sat back and let it all play out. It was indeed easier to blame the pirate who was trigger happy.

_You've known him for over 25 years_. Cortes shook his head, "drop it, let it all play out. We'll see what the future holds." Cortes headed towards his home, completely worn out after the past anxious weeks.

"Sure, run, Cortes. Don't you always?" Mahad spat at him as he guided Lena towards the tavern. Sometimes the young pirate wondered what it would've been like if his father had never disappeared. If they had stayed here, settled down and fought for freedom all together. Would his father have blamed Iziel? Mahad thought not. If anything, he would've adored her for her fighters spirit. Just like Mahad did, despite the fact that she hadn't contacted him in weeks. She wasn't guilty, according to Mahad, she was just sick of being blamed. And perhaps even afraid that Mahad too thought it was her who brought death upon so many innocents.

* * *

_**Author notes: **This was hard to write. I stumbled upon a small writers block. Urgh! So I'm sorry if it doesn't live up to your expectations, really had to force myself to write this chapter. I knew what I wanted to write but just couldn't do it! _

_You might have noticed a small change in this chapter. 'Fuerta de Soltera' is now called ' Fuerte Soltera' after I discussed it with someone who speaks Spanish. I'm still busy with the Spanish basics so if you notice any other mistakes, just tell me and I'll happily correct it!_

_Corrected Arran to Aran and pub to tavern in all chapters. Changed some other things as well (like which year, it's 2253 now instead of 2252)._

_Alice is back! Oh and commander Gerik. Well, Skyland makes it feel like Oslo is the supreme leader (which he's not). So I went out looking for more commanders and settled down with Gerik. I chose this name because it means Spear Ruler, which is funny because he rules and spear sounds like sphere. I'm weird, I'm aware._


	8. Chapter 7: Entranced

**Chapter 7: Entranced**

**Saint Nazaire, the captain's quarters  
**"I can't believe this is taking so long. They promised to contact us an hour ago." Mahad's face was glum, his hands folded.

All though Mila was slightly annoyed by her son's arrogance, she found it amusing that Mahad had inherited from his father, despite only spending the first five years of his life with him. She smiled at him and rubbed his left shoulder for a second. It was enough to let him know to calm down. The captain, however, wasn't amused.

Cortes sighed and muttered "impatient little bampot, just like his old man."

Wayan played with the radio buttons, checking if the frequency was right and if perhaps Salamanca's team wasn't on the wrong one. But like he feared, they just hadn't contacted yet.

"I'm out of here."

"Mahad, you come back this instant." Cortes' face startled Mahad a bit. He gulped and made his way back to the captain. "I'm not in the mood for games, Mahad. You sit down and wait." Mahad obediently sat down and yet again participated in the 'waiting game'.

After 25 agonizing long minutes, Salamanca finally called. Martinez' friendly face popped up, followed by a cheerful "¡Hola!"

Fuerte Soltera's captain smiled at the screen for a few seconds, "why is everyone looking so glum? I'm sorry that it took a bit longer. Kalani insisted that we'd file everything in alphabetical order."

A distant apology could be heard through the speakers. Martinez waved at a crew member who was out of the screen and then walked to the remains of what appeared to be Mahad's ship.

"We took it apart to study it closer. We took photographs of every step, I'll come over with Dax to show them to you personally. For now I'd like to give you guys the opportunity to see it as it is. Of course, you're welcome to come and take a look yourself. We're going to store it for a while so that a few of our beginning engineers can take a look. After that we'll destroy it. Bad memories, you see?"

Martinez made his way around the wreckage, trying to find a spot to begin. As the man started rambling about how much voltage the ship had to sustain, where the fire had been the worst, how the plates had shattered, Cortes felt grateful that Mahad had somehow survived. It was a miracle that his cockpit hadn't exploded with the rest of the engine. Martinez explained that it had to do with the impact of the blast. Had Mahad not been near a wall, the pressure would've exploded the glass of his cockpit followed by the seating area... including Mahad. But since it was near a wall, the pressure had bounced back and forth, resulting in penetrating the building and shattering the academy's glass instead of Mahad's.

One thing was clear, though. It had definitely started with Mahad's ship. The way the engine looked, how the cables had melted, how the steel wiring had crumbled: every little piece of the ship hinted that the engine had sustained more than it could deal with.

"As you can see, the engine reactor was used against itself. It was a matter of time till it blew up." Martinez held the remains of the engine reactor up. The tube was busted, burned and severely damaged in general. You could barely make up what it was, but for someone with a trained eye: it was clear to see.

"How much time passed do you think before it blew up?" Cortes' Scottish accent was troublesome for the Spanish native. Not that Martinez didn't have excellent English skills, on the contrary: his block had a forced English program at the schools so all children would be able to speak at least two languages. But this didn't mean that he could always understand Cortes. A minute of thinking was needed from time to time.

Kalani appeared in the screen, her clipboard tight to her chest. "May I speak, Captain?"

Martinez sighed from relief and nodded. It was useful to have a trusted engineer like Kalani around. All though ships wasn't her forte, she was excellent in taking them apart and studying them.

"The last known location of the Tempête is within 30 kilometres of the academy. Mahad's ship is a standard AIX-970 model."

"Which means?" Wayan asked her. Kalani stared at him for a second, baffled that a highly trained pirate didn't understood what she was saying.

"Al right, I apologize. The average flying speed of this particular model is 200 kilometres an hour. However, there are many factors that slow you down in that area. Sphere regulation, inhabited blocks and such. The Tempête disappeared about twelve minutes after the explosion and was never seen again. The last radio contact between Mahad's ship and the Tempête was 28 minutes before the disappearance. Which means that within sixteen minutes, Mahad reached the location, flew several times around the building, according to your son, and then the engine reactor exploded. He could've flown 53 kilometres in sixteen minutes time. But, as I said, he was slowed down and he flew around for a while in a slow pace."

"53 kilometres. They played it save then. He could've flown nearly twice the distance that was needed."

Cortes nodded as a response to Wayan's statement.

"Any news about the black box?" Mahad pleaded as a last attempt to clear Iziel's name.

"It died during the explosion, Mahad."

Mahad shivered. He still couldn't believe that Iziel would do something like that to him. Was there a reason for her to hurt him? Was there a reason for her to hurt his sister? And all those other innocent people? Iziel was a pirate and she loved being one.

"You're pathetic."

"Excuse me?" Martinez looked up to the camera, dropping the burned wires he was talking about to Cortes.

"You all are."

"Mahad, you better drop that attitude before I make you." Cortes glanced furiously at Mahad, his impatience growing.

"Why would someone who loves being a pirate hurt us? Why on Skyland would she harm innocent children? Just to prove her point? Just to let us know that she can? What kind of logic is that!" Mahad snorted.

"Mahad, I understand where you're coming from. But Iziel herself had let us know that she was going to place a bomb." Mila tried to soothe her son but he shook her off.

"If you knew, then why didn't you stop her? Why didn't any of you think 'oh, maybe we should stop someone from placing a bomb'?"

Wayan stepped forward, "Mahad, calm down. She merely let us know, we couldn't have possibly known that she would actually go through with it. She only said what she wanted us all to do. And we refused."

"If she did it, then you're all guilty. The blood is on your hands."

"Mahad..."

"No, mother. I don't believe that she did it. Even if she did then you're all guilty for not stopping her."

"Mahad, think about it! Has she contacted you ever since?" Cortes grabbed the youngster at his shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes. "Has she tried to clear her name to you at least once?"

Mahad shrugged the Captain off and muttered "go to Hell" before leaving the Saint Nazaire.

"At least he finally sees her actually doing it as an option now." Mila said as a desperate attempt to save her son's reputation.

Cortes nodded but somehow Mila doubted that he agreed with her statement. Would her son ever open his eyes? Would he ever grow up? He could be just as infuriating as his father.

* * *

**Lighthouse  
**  
"Posio is one of the most amazing places in the Lapland region. The blocks aren't that big, it exists out of a few big ones and many smaller ones. But you can really see that they belong together. Even the centuries old Riisitunturi National Park is still nearly completely intact. The landscaping is by far the most beautiful I've ever seen. You can still go skiing and dog sledding there, it's a lot of fun."

"That sounds absolutely amazing, but isn't it in a heavy Sphere controlled area?"

Chad nodded and smiled, "we're two highly trained pirates. I'm pretty sure that we'll manage. It's just something you have to see, it's breath-taking."

Dahlia and Chad were sitting at his favourite spot, right next to the Vector's immense book collection. The dust-covered books meant everything to Chad. All though he wouldn't admit it, he was a bit of a bookworm.

The past week they had spend every day in the lighthouse. Dahlia still thought it was the best place to lead Puerto Angel, all though she wasn't in charge anymore since Cortes had returned. But there was no annoyance there and no distractions. Well, except for Chad. He had told her hundreds of stories about the most amazing places he had been ever since he gave up working for Cortes.

"I don't know; Cortes was pretty clear about staying on Puerto Angel. I'm not comfortable with ignoring his orders." Dahlia sighed. Being the captain's right hand was both an honour and a pain in the butt. Always listening to his orders, setting an example, living up to his expectations. It was tiring and prevented many opportunities from happening.

"I doubt that counts for us. I bet he said that because he wanted to keep that Farrell kid grounded."

"Don't talk like that. Mahad is my friend, I've known him since we were little. I know everything is hectic at the moment but that doesn't mean we should talk poorly about him behind his back."

"I'm not" Chad shook his head, "I would never disrespect someone like that. I was just saying that... Dahlia, I respect you and your friends. But you deserve some fun. Spending day in, day out, sucking up to Cortes won't do you any good. You've already proven your worth, take some time for yourself."

Dahlia's mouth twisted into a grimace.

"That wasn't the best choice of words." He gulped.

"You can say that, all right." Dahlia folded her arms, annoyed by Chad's accusations. If there was one thing she hated, it was people not taking her job seriously. She had a duty to fulfil, whether they liked it or not.

"I spent many years working for Cortes, at the end I just gave up. Now I do what I feel is right. He might be your captain on the Saint Nazaire, but he's not the one who has the steer in his hands when it comes to your life. It's your life to live and I want to show you something beautiful. You've earned it."

"Well..."

"Say it." Chad beamed, a few shushed him at the other side of the room. He threw an apologetic look their way and focussed on Dahlia again.

"I'm not sure, Chad..."

"I'll be with you the entire time" he enthusiastically grabbed her shoulders, his mouth turned into a big smile. "I can show you what I've learned from flying for Cortes for so long."

Dahlia nodded, giving in to Chad's request.

* * *

**Mila's house  
**  
Mila and Mahad were sitting on the edge of the kitchen table. The good old thing still did its job right: serving butts instead of platters. Perhaps once or twice in all those years it had been used for serving food. At other times pirates had sat on it to discuss whatever they felt like talking about it.

Mila recalled her husband building it. He might have been a great leader, fighter and pilot: he wasn't that good in building things like tables and chairs. Over and over again, Mila had to get sandpaper and re-do the entire thing to avoid the children from getting splinters in their fingers. Thirteen years later it badly needed to be re-done, but at least the children were of an age that they needed less parenting.

While Mahad gushed about Iziel, she wondered how she could re-do the furniture. It would take her mind off things and would be a fresh breath of new air.

"I really like her, mom. I really do."

"I know, Mahad." She embraced her son, grateful that the Mahad she knew and loved was still underneath the layer of pirate-stubbornness, smugness and arrogance. To be fair, he had always been a bit arrogant. But ever since her small family had been reunited it had been ten times worse. His constant bragging about Marcus being his father, beating the Sphere at Kharzem and being a skilled pilot had led him to be intolerable. Spending even a few minutes around him could end up in walking away furiously.

"What the Hell was that about?" Dax rammed the door open, walked towards Mahad and grabbed him at his collar. "You listen and you listen well you spoiled-rotten rat. I don't care who your father is, in fact I thought your father was an incredible-insensitive tool, but you do not speak to an old friend of mine like that. You think he's pathetic? How about I show you what being pathetic really is like." Dax' missing eye freaked Mahad out a little bit. Over time he had seen a lot, but to see an actual war victim was always a tad hard on him.

"Be careful, I only have one son." Mila grinned at Dax' treatment. She knew that if Marcus had been here, he would've done the exact same thing. No time to waste on making someone feel good, not even if that person were his own son. If you were disrespectful, you were in for a treat.

"Don't worry, Mila. Knowing Marcus there are plenty other 'mini-me's' running around there."

"What?" Mahad's eyes became big.

Dax' bouldering laugh was fearsome. Mahad wasn't certain whether it was a joke or if he had to take it seriously, and quite frankly, at the moment he couldn't care any less.

Dax dropped Mahad on the ground and took a seat, lighting a cigarette in a very nonchalant way. Mila shook her head in disapproval but let it slide.

"You know, cigarettes can kill you." Mahad rubbed his head to soothe the stinging and got up.

Dax laughed at his statement, "perhaps I see your old man then."

"You don't know if he's dead."

"Don't hold your breath."

"Pretty sure you'd go to Hell anyways."

"I'm counting on it." Mahad was certain that if Dax had two eyes, he would've winked to complete his statement. Dax seemed like a perfunctory and neglectful person, yet in a frighteningly organized way. Everything he said and did seemed both planned and unintended at the same time.

Dax finished his cigarette and glanced at Mahad, taking his time before he'd speak. Cortes and Martinez waited patiently at the door side. Dax had been the one that had promised that he could change Mahad's ways. Cortes didn't doubt his word but he did doubt his decision of agreeing with it.

When Dax finally spoke his voice was calm. His rage had finally calmed down. "You idolize your father but do you even know what he was like?"

"I know everything about him. Why?"

Dax laughed and shook his head, "tell me, then."

"He was a great pilot."

"I've seen better."

"He loved my mother."

"He was a cheater."

"He was my father!" Mahad exclaimed furiously.

"He disappeared when you were five. If he's still alive, like you think he is, then he wasn't that much of a father, was he? Whatever it is, he chose it above your mother, your sister and you."

"I'm sure there's a logical explanation."

"Such as?"

Mahad stayed silent. He didn't have an explanation, yet. But he was certain that one day he'd have the answer to his deeply-grounded question. The question that haunted not only him, but also his mother, sister and everyone around him: where was Marcus Farrell?

"Did he really cheat?" Mahad finally asked, his voice was barely audible.

"I don't know, but son, you're extremely gullible."

Mahad wasn't sure whether to sigh from relief or to be furious that Dax played games with his mind.

"What Dax is trying to say is that you talk too much." Martinez stepped in, trying to save whatever kind of unorthodox method Dax was using. "You've been telling everyone that I tampered with the evidence."

"So? I have a right to say my mind."

"Mahad, your blabber-mouth has caused the Sphere to hear it as well. They know we have the ship and they have been using it against us. Haven't you seen it on your blue screen? They say we confiscated the evidence in order to tamper with it and make it look like the Sphere did it. They say we killed the children." To his own surprise, Cortes was calm when he said it. He had prepared to say this for a while now, but in his mind he always sounded angry.

"'We' as in?"

"Some blocks already cancelled orders from us. They refuse to take vegetables we've grown, electricity we've generated, blankets we've sown. They don't want to have anything to do with murderers."

"Parga already cut the bond. They're no longer a rebellion block but are instead neutral." Martinez added.

Cortes sighed at the news. All though he understood the decision, he had hoped that he would've at least been able to explain the situation.

"I don't see the problem."

Mahad's reaction startled the pirates.

"You don't see the problem?" Dax gritted his teeth, trying to hold himself from punching some sense into the young man. "Thanks to your idiotic behaviour, the Sphere has made it look like as if we're murderers. No one wants to be linked to us anymore. Blocks are giving up on us. We can't provide food and blankets to the poor. Do you understand what will happen, you sewage rat? People will die because of your ruthless actions. You had no right to-"

"I spoke the truth!"

"The truth? We never even touched the evidence unless it was to pick it up and study it. Don't you understand that we can't go anywhere now? Even if it's just to pick up water. Anyone can attack us now. Not even neutral blocks will accept us now."

"Then perhaps you should've considered more options instead of blaming it all on Iziel."

"That's it, you're coming with me." Dax got up and grabbed Mahad. If he didn't want to listen to what Dax had to say, then perhaps he had to be thrown into chaos in order to understand it.

* * *

**The Lapland Region**

"We're here." Chad opened the cockpit's frame, welcoming the cold of the block. The cold wind was a nice change from the constant heat of Puerto Angel. All though, if the odds would allow it, there was an occasional storm. But it never rained enough to beat the drought.

"This is amazing!" Dahlia clapped her hands, bewildered at the sight. The mountain tops were covered with snow while the pines in the front had remained green. The border between the low and high pressure areas was very clear in this region.

"After you" Chad offered Dahlia a hand as they got out of the ship. All though she normally wouldn't take it without an argument, she let it go this time. The scenery was too overwhelming to worry about little things at the moment.

"You're certain that we can walk around freely here?" She asked again to be sure.

Chad laughed, "don't worry. No one here cares if you're from the Sphere. They make a living of tourism, they're just glad you picked this region to chill."

"Was that a pun?"

"Perhaps!"

They made their way to the mountain top. Fortunately, Cortes had insisted on special clothing. On Puerto Angel it was quite hot, though it was something you'd get used to, but in areas like this one it was nice to stay on temperature.

They were about halfway through when Dahlia froze. "You hear that?" she whispered.

He was quiet for a second and shook his head.

"Listen carefully."

Chad tried to concentrate on sound but all he could hear were dogs barking in the distance, birds chirping and the wind fighting the resistance of the pine trees.

"I told you it was a pirate ship" a distant voice yelled. Chad had finally picked up on what Dahlia had heard.

"Think it's the Sphere?" She asked under her breath.

He shook his head, "they wouldn't call out like that. Just stay calm."

The two of them continued their way, trying to act nonchalant as pedestrians glared at them. The evil glares made them feel uncomfortable.

"Why are people looking at us?"

"Stay close to me." Chad ordered. When Dahlia got closer he grabbed her hand, "it's more believable that we're just tourists like this" he explained as quiet as possible to her.

"We don't want your kind here." Locals put Dahlia and Chad to a halt.

"What do you mean?" Chad asked, his voice calm as usual.

"Like I said: we don't want your kind here." The local retorted.

"And what kind might that be?"

"Filthy pirates."

"I see. May I ask what we did wrong?"

"Don't act innocent. We know your kind cost many lives. Including one of our own."

Chad raised an eyebrow and questioningly looked at Dahlia but she was just as baffled as he was.

"We honestly have no clue what you're talking about." She said.

The locals lost their impatience, "get them!" One yelled.

"Burn their ship!" Another added.

Chad and Dahlia ran to the opposite way of the ship. If there was a way to escape this place, it most certainly wouldn't be via their ship.

"Where are we going?" Dahlia yelled out of breath, struggling to keep a hold on Chad's hand as the pine leaves repeatedly slammed against her body.

"I don't know, just hold on tight!"

Their training and constant work had improved their speed a great deal. They could outrun, albeit not easily, the locals. But they needed a place to hide in order to come with an escape plan. Chad stopped for a few seconds and looked around, hoping he'd recognize a landmark from his previous trips.

"Over there! I remember his place, there's an old coal mine here. It's dangerous though."

"Do we have a choice?"

"Not really, come." He tugged her along towards the old mine.

"Help me push." Together they got the rocks to slightly move. They slipped in and closed it again as far as they could, allowing a bit of light and fresh air to enter the claustrophobic space.

Chad repeatedly checked the small hole, looking at the frantic locals who were desperate to find them. Luckily the wind had blown away their footsteps from the snow.

After a while he turned around and faced Dahlia who was still catching her breath.

"Dahlia, I'm so sorry. I just wanted a nice day out for you. You don't deserve the sudden change in this block. I honestly don't understand what's wrong-"

Dahlia put both of her hands on his face, her sudden posture change caused him to fall silent. He stared deep into her eyes before moving his head closer to hers and eventually closing the distance between them with a kiss.

* * *

_Well, I decided to ignore the review because all it did was made me feel terrible and give me a writers block and when I asked for a proper feedback so I could improve, the person never replied again. So, up to more chapters!_


	9. Chapter 8: Knock Down and Drag Out

**Chapter 8: Knock Down and Drag Out**

**The Lapland Region**

"Chad", Dahlia said bewildered, slowly pushing his body away from hers. "I'm not-"

"I know, I'm a fool." Chad panted, releasing Dahlia from his grip. He shook his head several times, not knowing what to do or say, worried sick that he might have destroyed this new and exciting friendship.

Dahlia shifted her weight out of unease, her body frozen… alarmed. She too didn't want to ruin a perfectly fine friendship. Where had it gone wrong? Where had she _accidentally_ given him a hint that there was more in it than that?

He grabbed her cold hands and lifted them up, like a barrier between the two of them. "Forgive me." Was all he said. His eyes were the ones that spoke a thousand words - filled with genuine regret. She didn't answer, though. The silence was eating him on the inside, nibbling on his heart – feeding itself on his dismay. "I'm not in love with you" he simpered.

Her eyes narrowed, "you're not?" He shook his head, his slight simper fading.

"Ugh" she exclaimed, pulling her hands out his. The sudden cold made her shiver. "Y- You're being awfully confusing." After noticing the shiver, he tried to warm her hands once more but she refused.

Chad sighed, "there's someone I like. A lot. I have been trying to tell her for years now. She told me she was worried about me being a pilot so I stopped being one. She's a vegetarian so I stopped eating meat. She said she hates blue so I stopped wearing my favourite sweater."

"Reva."

He nodded and closed his eyes for a second. "We grew up together. For years I saw her fall in love with the wrong ones. Some were nice but they weren't me. I wanted to be happy but at the same time I wanted it to be with me. And the most awful part is that when she did show interest in me, I was too much of a coward to pursue. Too busy sucking up to Cortes and too busy realizing that I deserve a life too."

Dahlia was quiet as she listened to Chad's ranting. Not sure if she should defend her captain's requests regarding being fully focused on being a pirate or –

"Don't you get it?" Chad smiled, his question interrupting her inner battle.

She cleared her throat, "get what?"

"After years I realized that Cortes' demand doesn't mean that you can't be happy. All he wants is for you to be focused and ready for battle, it doesn't mean that you can't have a life of your own."

Dahlia's eyebrows furrowed.

"Live your own life."

"I'm living my own life" she opted.

"Look at Wayan."

"If I have to look at Wayan then I'm not really living my-"

"You don't get it, Dahlia!"

She shushed him and quickly placed her hand on his mouth. "There are people outside. May I remind you that an angry mob wants us dead?"

He shook of her hand and whispered: "Listen, you can live your own life. I know you like him; you haven't shut up about him ever since we started talking. Your eyes light up when someone mentions his name."

"What, who? What are you talking about?"

"Mahad."

"No" she gasped, furiously shaking her head. "You're being insane; I don't like him."

"But you do."

"Except that I don't. Chad, I'm perfectly fine on my own. Stop trying to make decisions for me, I thought you were my friend."

"I am."

"You have a rather funny way of showing it, hypocrite."

"Hypocrite?" he asked surprised.

"You just kissed me" she exclaimed, fuming at his ignorance. "And then you give me a speech about being with the one you love!"

"They're over here!" a voice in the distance shouted. Dahlia and Chad glanced at each other in panic.

* * *

**Marina shipyard, Puerto Angel**

It had been four hours since she contacted him. Apparently, 'I'll be here any minute' meant 'see you in several hours'. Mahad sighed and kicked a small stone, bored from watching elderly men play with their small ships. Marina shipyard – a docking-like place where you can park a small ship that doesn't have the purpose of combat. With other words, according to Mahad: absolutely useless ships that had no purpose of existing other than getting destroyed.

"Missed me?" a familiar voice asked. He looked up to find Haneko standing right in front of him; arms crossed and her face in a big grin.

"Haneko!" he threw his hands around her and gave her a tight hug. "You have no idea; it's been too long."

She snickered, "it's only been a few weeks, Mahad. Nothing compared with the last time."

"Yeah, I know. But it's still too long. Hey, didn't Shoomday tag along?"

"No", she shook her head.

"Doesn't he want to see me? I heard him on the radio."

"No, I'm alone. Shoomday isn't and wasn't with me."

"But I'm pretty sure that I –"

"I'm alone, Mahad." Haneko glared at him.

"Alright… why did you want to see me?"

"Aren't I allowed to want to – I mean, I just wanted to see you. Is that so odd?"

Mahad shook his head, "'suppose not" he muttered. All though he was excited to see her again, a part of him also felt like the whole situation was suspicious. He didn't want to accuse Iziel or Haneko of anything, but the pirate leaders had really gotten into his head. Was she trust worthy? Were her intentions pure?

"What are you thinking about?" she eyed him.

He didn't answer her, just shook the question off as if she never asked it in the first place,

"Well, I, for one, am very excited to see you again! I can't wait to hear all your adventures since you left us!" She grabbed his arm and dragged him along.

Mahad struggled to keep up, occasionally risking stumbling over the poorly lain path. "I don't know where to start, I told you a lot already" he wheezed.

"I can't believe that Marcus Farrell is your father. How exciting!"

"I guess, but I already told you –"

"And it must be fantastic for your mother to be back in her hometown again. Well, technically not her hometown since she used to be a member of the Sphere but still. That's in the past, I know. But it must be a bit odd for you that your father is one of Skyland's most wanted fugitives – all be it a dead fugitive – and your mother a former Sphere brigadier. It must cause some tension in your home!"

"Wait a minute", Mahad came to an abrupt halt, the sudden tug nearly causing Haneko to fall on the ground. "Why are you saying this?"

"Hmm? What do you mean? You know me Mahad, I've always been a bit straight-forward." Haneko gave him a panicked look, her mouth smiled but her eyes didn't join the _fun_.

"You sound… You sound just like Iziel!" Mahad pulled his hand away with force, refusing to touch her for a second longer.

"Mahad, don't be silly."

"Are you wearing a wire? Is she listening right now? Iziel!" He grabbed Haneko and shook her, frantically looking for any signs of a wire or anything that could lead him back to Iziel. "Iziel? Are you listening? I miss you, I don't think you did it."

"Mahad!" Haneko cried out.

"Iziel!"

"Mahad, stop being so ridiculous!" Haneko gave him a hard push. "I just came to see my friend. I'm tired, I haven't heard from you in a while. I'm sorry if I offended you… I'm just a bit nervous."

"Nervous?"

"Yes, I have a question…" Haneko became a bit uneasy, biting her lip. Stalling time. "Is there still place here? I know it's sudden but I have nowhere to go… I lost my home, my family, I left the Tempête…"

"You left Iziel's crew?"

"Yes, I did."

"It's been off the radar for weeks? Where is it? Wait, come, let's go. Maybe this is how we can prove that Iziel is innocent. We'll just have to go to her and confront her!" Mahad tugged Haneko's hand but she didn't move an inch. "What are you waiting for? Let's go!"

"Mahad, Iziel isn't exactly innocent."

Mahad's eyes widened, "blasphemy!" he shouted.

"I can't fully blame her; I know I was a part of her team. I'm willing to face my punishment if I have to. I deserve it."

"Shut it! Are you even hearing what you're saying?"

"Mahad…"

"No."

* * *

**The Lapland Region**

"Our leader is thrilled to meet you. He's an old friend of the Vector and was a trusted advisor of Marcus Farrell. I guess you could compare maven Sardius to the Vector in some ways. What the Vector, at the time, meant to Mila was what maven Sardius meant to Farrell."

"What exactly is he a maven in? What's his expertize?" Dahlia asked as she followed maven Sardius' patron.

"Imperceptibility – He knows exactly how to avoid being seen by the Sphere while still being there. He helped Farrell at numerous occasions."

"Is that how Marcus Farrell disappeared thirteen years ago?"

The patron was silent for a minute, seemingly focussed at discreetly finding the way. "Is that how the Vector helped Mrs. Farrell disappear?"

"I'm sorry, Patron, I know nothing about Mila's disappearance."

"Then you and I are at one."

They continued the rest of the way in silence.

It wasn't long until they reached a beautiful snow covered town.

"This is the old town of Kiruna. It has become extremely hard to reach after planet Earth… collapsed."

"I can tell" Dahlia gulped.

The patron smiled and continued, "this didn't stop maven Sardius and his compatriots; the honourable Evander, the Vector and Sebastian of claiming it and reshaping it to their own visual needs."

"The Vector is from the same country as maven Sardius?" Dahlia asked.

"Yes, well, no. Not entirely. But the current way of how the blocks are shaped makes them from the same region. Their nationality is Greek."

"What makes Evander honourable?" Chad asked before continuing, "Sebastian is just… Sebastian?"

"Sadly, the honourable Evander died when an avalanche hit Kiruna. We're close up north, a sejin's powers are too strong here. He realized it too late. Oh, and do not worry, only us patrons are forced to call them by their full title. I know it's a mouth full." The patron smiled once more, remembering Evander fondly. "Sebastian is actually a part of the Sphere's elite."

"Wait, what?" Dahlia paused for a second out of shock.

"Not everyone from the Sphere is a bad person. Sebastian is different. He doesn't openly communicate with pirates – he doesn't believe the way you do. But he does believe that everyone deserves their own way of living. Albeit, in his mind, that the Sphere's way is better."

"Patron" the patron said to two peers when they reached a red brick building.

"Patron" the two of them repeated. The two fellow patrons wore the same Havelock blue outfit that their patron wore.

"Maven Sardius picked the Kiruna Church as his base. He's fascinated by old cultures. The building itself was built around 1910 and is still fully intact. Maven Sardius has several people maintaining it on a weekly basis."

"That must cost a lot." Despite the low temperature, Chad's voice still sounded the same; husky. As if the cold didn't bother him at all.

"On the contrary. We don't get paid, we get to live here for free. We work and get a peaceful life in return. We haven't joined a battle for fifteen years now." The Patron sighed, "don't discuss it behind these doors. Maven Sardius hates to look back at the battle."

"You lost?" Dahlia asked out of curiosity.

"No… Well, lives were lost. Farrell requested our help and naturally, maven Sardius responded. After what happened, he had to live with the guilt and it tore him apart."

"What happened?"

"I'm afraid that it's not my place to tell, Chad." The patron opened the doors, simultaneously ending the conversation.

"Dahlia, I haven't seen you in nearly sixteen years!" Maven Sardius shakenly got up and clapped his hands, dismissing the patrons that wanted to help him. "I don't need help, I'm perfectly fine." He made his way towards Dahlia who was silent out of confusion.

"You look just like your mother, such a shame." The maven put his finger under her chin and lifted her face until she looked into his eyes.

"Y- you did? I do?" She stuttered nervously. It was nothing like her to stutter but after so many years and having no pictures, she didn't have a clue as to what her mother looked like. All she could remember was spending time with her father.

"Unfortunately, yes. How is that old –"

"Maven!" A patron interrupted.

The maven smiled and waved it off before continuing, "I haven't heard from her in years."

"Dahlia's mother took her own life many years ago, maven Sardius" Chad answered the maven's previous question.

"It happens."

"Maven Sardius!" The same patron awkwardly exclaimed.

Again the maven smiled, "I hope you excuse me. I strongly disliked your mother. She once betrayed my fleet by sending their coordinates to the Sphere just out of pure jealousy. She was a pirate in every way and couldn't care less about my neutral fleet. Obsessed with picking a side. I don't see what your father saw in her. Brilliant man, great engineer; who most definitely deserved better."

"I miss him" Dahlia admitted.

"I do too, my child. Now, why are you in trouble?"

* * *

**Farrell residence**

"Please, Haneko. If you ever truly were my friend… if you ever truly cared." Mahad and Haneko were sitting in Mahad's room.

"Mahad, it's not that I don't care about you. I just owe it to all those innocent people to tell them what truly happened."

"But you don't know what happened – you're only guessing. You weren't there."

"I know, but I… I was part of her team. _I heard things_."

"You heard things but didn't actually experience them yourself. Why are you making this so hard?" Mahad fell back on his bed, his hands covering his face.

"Mahad…" Haneko made her way towards him and sat down. "Mahad" she repeated, grabbing his left hand and then stroked it to soothe him. "This used to work on you" she smiled.

Nearly hidden under his right hand but still slightly visible, she could see his lips curl up. "It still works" he whispered.

"Well good, now get up" Haneko snickered and helped him get up. "I guess you really love Iziel" she sighed.

"No, I don't know. I haven't heard from her for weeks. I feel awful."

"Mahad", Haneko slowly let her hand stroke his back. "I'm here for you, just like old times."

"She saw my potential; you know?" He looked into Haneko's eyes and sighed. "We connected on a whole new level. Everyone considered me as a kid, an immature brat that doesn't know when to stop. Even here, Cortes doesn't see what I'm capable of doing."

"But there's more to you" Haneko added.

"So much more, and then we spend nights talking about everything. Who my father was, what my mother might be hiding from me, why I sometimes feel like I have no one to connect to."

"And why you sometimes feel like everything goes wrong."

"Sometimes it did" he smiled. "But then…"

"I was there."

"Yes."

"This isn't about Iziel, is it?" Haneko looked away while saying it.

Mahad grabbed her chin and gently directed her face back to face his. "No" he whispered as he leaned in. "No, it isn't" he repeated as the space between them got smaller.

* * *

**The lighthouse**

The vector hummed as he checked Cheng's notes.

"Are they any good?" Cheng asked, his feet kicked the air nervously as he sat on the desk.

"Cheng, stop moving, you're making it rather hard to read."

"Okay" Cheng said glum as he hopped of the desk.

Lena made his way towards him and wrapped her arm around his shoulder, pinching it reassuringly. "Don't worry, I'm sure you did fine. Now let's give the Vector some time to check it" she winked at the youngster. Together they headed across the room.

"I hope I didn't disappoint him" Cheng whispered.

She shook her head, unwilling to believe that there was something that her young friend couldn't do. Cheng was a smart boy but he had so much to learn about patience and having some faith in himself.

He had calculated the movement between the blocks, for the first time in his life had been allowed to use the Vector's self-made equipment. Cheng was always allowed to use everything – The Vector didn't want to block his learning process and was well aware that his pupil was gifted. But he had been hesitant with the machines he built so many years ago. If something were to break, it couldn't be replaced.

The Vector grunted several times, firing up Cheng's nerves.

"Hmm. You made several mistakes there, Cheng."

"Where?" Cheng quickly made his way back towards the Vector's desk, Lena in his pursuit.

"Right there, look" the Vector pointed at several calculations. It all looked like gibberish to Lena, who had a hard time with math.

"Are you sure? I re-calculated it several times…"

"Are you doubting me?" The Vector smiled at Cheng's reaction.

Cheng's eyes widened, "no, of course not. I just thought… Never mind."

"You give up too easily, Cheng. Just hear the Vector out." Lena re-assured Cheng.

"You calculated the distance to Lagarto, correct?"

Cheng nodded to the Vector's question.

"Lagarto moves at nearly the same rate as Puerto Angel. You calculated the distance to something that moves the same way you do. The position doesn't – or nearly – change this way. You have to calculate the position of the block compared to the position of the sun, then calculate back towards how much the sun has moved. It's a difficult process but it works."

"Vector!" the captain's sudden voice startled the three. "Can you believe this?" he panted.

The Vector got up, "no, I can't because you just interrupted me. What did I tell you about barging into –" Cortes' firm look silenced the Vector. Now was not the time.

"I grounded all ships and Dahlia just took off with that deceiving little – Oh. Hi, Cheng, Lena. Didn't see you guys. Why don't you two go outside, to the tavern or something similar."

"No, they stay right here." The Vector insisted.

Cortes sighed, "it's that Chad. First he leaves head over heels and now he's dragging Dahlia along. For nearly a week she's been doing her duties half-arsed."

"She's been working fulltime; don't you think she deserves a break?"

"Barely doing your duties isn't similar to taking a break. If she wants some peace, she needs to request it like anyone else. Besides, she never asked for less work."

"Maybe she's in love" Lena snickered. Cortes gave her a stern look. "Or not" she quickly added.

Cortes sighed again. This is exactly why he didn't want any kids around. Well, this and because having kids around prevented him from saying what he really wanted to say. He had nothing good to say about Chad. Cortes was the captain of the ship, a ship Chad no longer worked for so he couldn't care less. Even though Chad worked hard on the block itself.

"This is Kiruna for Papa Alpha, do you read me?" The Vector's radio interrupted Cortes' thoughts.

The Vector pressed the call key, "Vector to Kiruna, reading you five, go ahead."

"This is Chad; Dahlia is right next to me. We're stuck in the Lapland region. People here seem to be very mad at us out of the sudden."

"Maybe they also discovered that he's going to leave their –" Cortes couldn't continue his sentence, the Vector's look silenced him.

"Martinez' crew found evidence that Iziel placed an engine bomb." The Vector notified the two pirates via the radio.

It was silent for a minute, making it quite clear that the two pirates were in shock. "How would the people here know?" Dahlia asked.

Cortes made his way towards the radio and pressed the key, "you can thank your friend for that, who was quick to publically jump in Iziel's defence."

"The Sphere found out because of Mahad?" Chad's voice sounded shocked.

"That's correct." Cortes responded, "Stand-by, Dax has several crew members in your area who will pick you up."

"Wilco." Chad responded.

"And give my greetings to my dear friend Sardius" the Vector added.

"Copy that, sir. Over and out." Chad ended the call.

"Well, at least now you know where they are" the Vector smiled but Cortes ignored his statement, leaving the lighthouse in a rush.

* * *

_Authors note: Sorry for the delay! Had a writers block because of the review... Couldn't figure out where I went wrong and when I asked, the person just stopped replying :/ just gonna try not to read reviews from now on :) Also moved and will be moving again soon but I'll try to write! Much love and happy holidays in advance._


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